How to Sell Meat, Dairy & Animal Products in Oregon

Meat, dairy, and animal products fall under different regulatory frameworks depending on what you're selling:

Poultry (chicken, turkey, duck, etc.)

Regulated by ODA and USDA. Small producer exemptions exist (see Step 2).

Red meat (beef, pork, lamb, goat, etc.)

Requires state or federal inspection for retail sale. Custom-exempt processing is an option for direct sales.

Eggs

Relatively simple under farm direct rules. Already covered in our Farm Direct guide.

Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, butter)

Regulated by ODA. Raw milk has specific rules in Oregon.

Honey

Already covered in our Farm Direct guide — one of the simpler pathways.

Other animal products (wool, leather, beeswax, feathers, etc.)

Generally not food-regulated — these fall under Handmade Goods.

Oregon has exemptions that make small-scale poultry sales possible without federal USDA inspection:

The 1,000-Bird Exemption

• You can process and sell up to 1,000 birds per year without USDA inspection
• Must be your own birds, raised on your farm
• Must sell directly to end consumers (not to stores or restaurants)
• Processing must happen on your farm
• Proper labeling and sanitation required
• You should notify ODA that you're operating under this exemption

The 20,000-Bird Exemption

• Allows up to 20,000 birds per year
• Can sell to restaurants, stores, and distributors within Oregon
• Requires ODA inspection (but not USDA)
• More paperwork and compliance than the 1,000-bird exemption

If you're raising chickens for meat and selling a few hundred birds a year to neighbors, the 1,000-bird exemption is designed for you.

→ OSU Extension: Farm Direct Marketing Eggs & Meat

Selling red meat (beef, pork, lamb, goat) to consumers is more complex than poultry:

USDA-Inspected Processing

For meat sold at retail (stores, restaurants, farmers markets), the animal must be processed at a USDA-inspected facility. You raise the animal; a licensed processor handles the slaughter and butchering. This gives you a USDA-inspected product you can sell anywhere.

The challenge: USDA-inspected processors are often booked months out and can be expensive. Plan ahead.

Custom-Exempt Processing

An animal can be processed at a custom-exempt facility (not USDA-inspected) if:

• The buyer purchases the live animal (or a share of it) before processing
• The meat is for the buyer's personal consumption, not resale
• The packages are labeled "NOT FOR SALE"

This is how many small farms sell beef, pork, and lamb: the customer buys a whole, half, or quarter animal, and the farmer delivers it to the processor on their behalf.

Key point: You cannot sell individual cuts of custom-exempt meat at a farmers market. The sale of the live animal must happen first.

Dairy is regulated by ODA's Dairy Program. The rules depend on what you're selling:

Raw milk

Oregon allows the sale of raw (unpasteurized) milk directly from the farm to the consumer, subject to specific rules: must be from your own herd, direct farm-to-consumer sales only, labeling requirements (including warnings), testing and sanitation standards, and limits on herd size for unlicensed raw milk sales.

Pasteurized milk and dairy products

Requires an ODA dairy processing license. This includes pasteurized milk, yogurt, butter, ice cream, and most cheeses.

Aged cheese

Some aged/hard cheeses made from raw milk may have a different regulatory pathway. The 60-day aging rule (raw milk cheese aged 60+ days) is a federal standard that applies in Oregon.

Bottom line on dairy: Talk to ODA's Dairy Program directly. The rules are nuanced and depend on exactly what you're producing, how, and to whom you're selling.

If you're processing or handling food products, every person involved needs one.

→ Washington County Food Handler Certification

This is the one pathway where we say: call ODA before you do anything else. The regulations are product-specific, scale-specific, and sales-channel-specific. A 15-minute phone call with an ODA licensing specialist will save you weeks of confusion.

What to ask:

• "I want to sell [specific product] to [specific customer type]. What do I need?"
• "Am I eligible for any small producer exemptions?"
• "What inspections or licensing do I need for my specific situation?"
• "What are the labeling requirements for my product?"

ODA Food Safety Program — Phone: 503-986-4720

→ ODA: Food Safety Licensing

They're there to help. Seriously. ODA licensing specialists are used to getting calls from small producers trying to figure this out.

Business license: Same as other pathways — check your city.

→ Hillsboro Business Licenses

→ Beaverton Business Licenses

Insurance: Strongly recommended for animal products. Product liability insurance protects you if someone gets sick. If selling at farmers markets, they'll likely require it. $500–1,500/year depending on products and scale.

People want local meat, local eggs, local cheese. They want to know the farmer. They want to see the animals and know how they're raised. This is your biggest advantage over industrial producers — the relationship.

List on Marketless Farmer. Your neighbors are already searching.

$10/month for a producer listing. Cancel anytime. Oregon-first.