Local beef, pork, sheep, and goat producers are invited to join the state’s first cooperative offering full-service slaughter and meat processing.

Meatsmith Co-op Vice President Heather Oppor says their business plan focuses on harvesting and processing livestock for small- and medium-scale producers in Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and Rock counties.

The $500 membership fee represents owner equity in the cooperative and will facilitate the purchase of the 6,500-square-foot former grocery store in Argyle that will be converted into a meat processing facility.