Rural Wabasso farmer Paul Sobocinski is one of three individuals who will share an endowed chair position at the University of Minnesota to help solve the rural meat processing bottleneck.

Sobocinski, Tom Nuessmeier and Julie Cesar Tena Soria serve as the Minnesota Farmers Union “Solving the Local Meat Processing Bottleneck Project” directors. Nuessmeier farms in Le Suer County. Soria started working with the Bottleneck Project a year ago and leads the group’s outreach to the Hispanic community.

The chair will also provide funding to support Ryan Solberg, a graduate student within the public policy master’s program at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

The Farmers Union website says of the Bottleneck Project, “Our team is working to address the bottlenecks in the Minnesota meat processing industry. We do this through research, helping small processors with workforce and succession planning, and connecting apprentices with employers and (meat-cutting) programs at Ridgewater College and Central Lake College.”

The Minnesota Farmers Union Solving the Local Meat Processing Bottleneck Project began in 2021 in response to the bottleneck created when large meat processing plants idled processing during COVID-19. The interruption at the large plants exposed the fragility of the nation’s meat processing infrastructure and highlighted the importance of small meat processors.

An initial group of project leaders, including Sobocinski, interviewed 57 small meat processors and issued a report with several recommendations, many of which the state Legislature funded in 2023. The bottleneck group is now working on recruitment.

“Of those interviews we learned that a quarter of local meat processors in rural areas are aging, and many do not have a succession plan,” he said.

Sobocinski and his wife, Candice, are Redwood County sustainable livestock farmers who raised pigs for Niman Ranch for over 20 years, plus cattle and hogs for direct market sale. “We are in a transition period right now, we just stopped farrowing pigs,” he said. He serves as the vice president of the Redwood County Farmers Union. For 40 years he has been a farm organizer, 30 of those with the Land Stewardship Project and continues as an active member of the Farmers Union. He is a past manager of the Ruthton Elevator and is an SMSU graduate

“The goal of the Bottleneck Project is to aid in workforce recruitment, develop apprenticeship opportunities for meat processing entrepreneurs wanting to enter the industry and own a business,” said Sobocinski. “Two years ago the Legislature awarded a lot of one-time money in meat processing grants, to update facilities,” he said.

“There’s been a move in recent years of farmers selling directly to neighbors and friends,” he said. An example of this direct marketing would be, for instance, selling a quarter of beef to a neighbor, utilizing a small local processor and bypassing the large packers.

Last year, Sobocinski organized a “Meatpreneurs” workshop in Willmar. Those types of presentations are part of the educational process that’s important to the success of the Bottleneck Project, he feels. “The workshop gave interested people, including immigrants, a snapshot of the ‘how to’ when it comes to working in the industry, along with management responsibilities, and owning their own small meat shop or locker,” he said. Education and outreach are key aspects of the project.

Sobocinski’s group works collaboratively with other groups such as the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Minnesota Association of Meat Processors, the state Department of Agriculture, and the Regional Sustainable Development Partnership of the University of Minnesota, to name a few.

He said that through these partnerships, “we are connecting the puzzle pieces” to solve the issue. “There’s a dire workforce shortage right now,” he said. That’s why education and getting the word out are so important,” he said.

“I am an organizer besides being a farmer,” he said. “We must advocate better, talk to our local legislators to raise the money for agriculture in the budget. We need to work together in a bi-partisan manner, because there’s not enough money budgeted compared what agriculture contributes. The agriculture industry must be lifted up, and I hope that both Democrats and Republicans drive that piece forward.”

Sobocinski and his wife, Candice, are the parents of four grown children. They have six grandchildren.nski is one of three individuals who will share an endowed chair position at the University of Minnesota to help solve the rural meat processing bottleneck.

Sobocinski, Tom Nuessmeier and Julie Cesar Tena Soria serve as the Minnesota Farmers Union “Solving the Local Meat Processing Bottleneck Project” directors. Nuessmeier farms in Le Suer County. Soria started working with the Bottleneck Project a year ago and leads the group’s outreach to the Hispanic community.

The chair will also provide funding to support Ryan Solberg, a graduate student within the public policy master’s program at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

The Farmers Union website says of the Bottleneck Project, “Our team is working to address the bottlenecks in the Minnesota meat processing industry. We do this through research, helping small processors with workforce and succession planning, and connecting apprentices with employers and (meat-cutting) programs at Ridgewater College and Central Lake College.”

The Minnesota Farmers Union Solving the Local Meat Processing Bottleneck Project began in 2021 in response to the bottleneck created when large meat processing plants idled processing during COVID-19. The interruption at the large plants exposed the fragility of the nation’s meat processing infrastructure and highlighted the importance of small meat processors.

An initial group of project leaders, including Sobocinski, interviewed 57 small meat processors and issued a report with several recommendations, many of which the state Legislature funded in 2023. The bottleneck group is now working on recruitment.

“Of those interviews we learned that a quarter of local meat processors in rural areas are aging, and many do not have a succession plan,” he said.

Sobocinski and his wife, Candice, are Redwood County sustainable livestock farmers who raised pigs for Niman Ranch for over 20 years, plus cattle and hogs for direct market sale. “We are in a transition period right now, we just stopped farrowing pigs,” he said. He serves as the vice president of the Redwood County Farmers Union. For 40 years he has been a farm organizer, 30 of those with the Land Stewardship Project and continues as an active member of the Farmers Union. He is a past manager of the Ruthton Elevator and is an SMSU graduate

“The goal of the Bottleneck Project is to aid in workforce recruitment, develop apprenticeship opportunities for meat processing entrepreneurs wanting to enter the industry and own a business,” said Sobocinski. “Two years ago the Legislature awarded a lot of one-time money in meat processing grants, to update facilities,” he said.

“There’s been a move in recent years of farmers selling directly to neighbors and friends,” he said. An example of this direct marketing would be, for instance, selling a quarter of beef to a neighbor, utilizing a small local processor and bypassing the large packers.

Last year, Sobocinski organized a “Meatpreneurs” workshop in Willmar. Those types of presentations are part of the educational process that’s important to the success of the Bottleneck Project, he feels. “The workshop gave interested people, including immigrants, a snapshot of the ‘how to’ when it comes to working in the industry, along with management responsibilities, and owning their own small meat shop or locker,” he said. Education and outreach are key aspects of the project.

Sobocinski’s group works collaboratively with other groups such as the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Minnesota Association of Meat Processors, the state Department of Agriculture, and the Regional Sustainable Development Partnership of the University of Minnesota, to name a few.

He said that through these partnerships, “we are connecting the puzzle pieces” to solve the issue. “There’s a dire workforce shortage right now,” he said. That’s why education and getting the word out are so important,” he said.

“I am an organizer besides being a farmer,” he said. “We must advocate better, talk to our local legislators to raise the money for agriculture in the budget. We need to work together in a bi-partisan manner, because there’s not enough money budgeted compared what agriculture contributes. The agriculture industry must be lifted up, and I hope that both Democrats and Republicans drive that piece forward.”

Sobocinski and his wife, Candice, are the parents of four grown children. They have six grandchildren.