Adams Farm Slaughterhouse

Adams Family Farm Slaughterhouse & Butcher Shop
On Friday we took some of our pastured pork down to the smokehouse to have a new batch of our maple spiced smoked nitrate/nitrite free hot dogs made. This is a long trip for us as there is nobody in Vermont that can do volume quantities. So we save our meat up until we can make the journey, justifying the time and cost. In about two to four weeks we should be picking up a new batch of delectable hot dogs made with our pastured pork. For the batch after that I’m thinking perhaps another Kielbasa fresh or smoked.

On the way back we stopped in and visited with Rick Adams of the Adams Farm Slaughterhouse in Athol, MA 01331. They are a family operation which just opened their brand new facility this past November after their previous meat processing plant had burned down. Adams is one of the rare on-farm USDA inspected facilities. We have neighbors that use their services, trucking their livestock down from Vermont. It’s a long haul. There are very few inspected meat processors – a requirement for selling to stores and restaurants – so farmers are having to go long distances. While Adams was down they were sorely missed. Without processing we can’t get our pork to fork or beef, er, in the reefer. Adams also does a large trade in goats and sheep for the ethnic markets around Boston.

If you raise livestock and are in their area of Western Massachusetts then you need to know the Adams Farm. Our extensive tour with Rick Adams let me see just what a great facility they have and how well they do. Lots of good ideas. In addition to slaughter, butchering and smoking they also have a retail store front. Thanks, Rick, for all the helpful information and your time!

2013-09-16 Update: We have now been taking to Adams Farm Slaughterhouse on a weekly basis for four years and continue to be extremely pleased with their professionalism, animal handling and workmanship. They are highly recommended. I would suggest scheduling for the fall by June or avoiding the fall rush by slaughtering in January.

2015-04-14 Update: We continue to take our pigs to Adams Farm Slaughterhouse every week for slaughter and continue to be highly pleased with their excellent work. We’re about to open our own butcher shop and begin cutting the meat here on-farm but will continue taking pigs to Adams for a while before we finish out the Abattoir portion of our facility. If you’re in New England and need slaughter, butchering, linked sausage and smoking contact the Adams family. They’ll do right by you.

Outdoors: 70°F/47°F Sunny, 2″ Rain in early morning
Tiny Cottage: 69°F/67°F