How the Sausage is Made at Mace Chasm Farm

Courtney Grimes-Sutton, Owner, Operator, Farmer and Butcher of Mace Chasm Farm in Keeseville, NY. Courtney offered a presentation at the 2022 New York Organic Farming Association of New York’s Winter Conference on “Finding a Niche Market for your Meat”.

Her presentation offered a unique look into “how the sausage is made” at Mace Chasm Farm which was interesting and helpful for both producers and consumers.

We wanted to share it with you so that you could also see how Mace Chasm Farm specializes in custom-cut meats sold directly to consumers that are processed in an on-site butcher shop.

If you’d like to see a video of Courtney’s full presentation alongside fellow farmer Samer Saleh of Halal Pastures, a direct to consumer livestock farm located Rock Tavern, NY, you can purchase access to the recording from NOFA-NY here.

How Mace Chasm Farm Has Found a Niche Market for their Meat

Mace Chasm Farm is located in Keeseville, NY

Their farmstore is a small, self-serve space attached to the butcher shop. Customers can grab pre-packaged fresh cuts.

They slaughter and process chickens and turkeys on-site in their “5a” facility, and break down and process pigs and cows that have been slaughtered at a USDA facility in Vermont in their “20c” space.

Their full line of products are intended to utilize all parts of the animals they raise and offer unique products their customers can’t buy locally elsewhere.

The process of providing great products starts with healthy and happy animals.

Their butchering process starts on Tuesdays, when they break down the pigs and cows that were slaughtered last week and brought back to the farm on Monday.

Three butchers work in their shop from Tuesday-Friday each week.

This is where carcasses are broken into “sub-primals”, or smaller, but not final cuts.

Here you can see the team making trim for sausages and grinding the ingredients, preparing roasts, finishing cuts on products.

Then “sub-primals” get broken down into secondary, or portion cuts.

On Wednesdays the team finishes pork products like bacon.

Thursdays and Fridays are dedicated to finishing work, like harvesting fresh herbs and making sausage.

Their incredible sausage is their flagship product.

All waste is then turned out to the compost pile, which is shared with other area farmers.

Saturday and Sunday is spent at farmers’ markets. Pictured, the winter Farmers’ Park-It which Courtney calls says is like a “little agricultural NASCAR team” of farmers and volunteers loading orders into customers vehicles.

They bring 1 cow and 5 pigs to the slaughterhouse each week, and bring back carcasses of the 1 cow and 5 pigs they brought last week.

They utilize all parts of their animals, especially in their range of bone broths.

This model helped utilize Courtney’s existing skill-set and limited access to capital when starting the farm.

Because of this model, they have to sell their products directly to consumers, which can be challenging in a rural, seasonally populated area.

Considering Courtney is the Head Butcher, and her salary is re-invested back into the farm, a rough cost comparison shows that doing custom cuts on-site is more cost effective.

Consistency in product quality is important with a small target market.

Courtney says it is important for producers to develop a flagship product that uses a lot of your commodities first to establish farm loyalty and trust from customers.

Summer and fall is the busiest, and most exciting time of year. Winter and spring are harder months with slower sales.

Courtney says that individual farm survival feels like a “crapshoot”, but hopes the survival of individual farms leads to collective survival, and a stronger food system.

Learn more about Mace Chasm Farm at their website at macechasmfarm.com

To buy their pork, chicken, 100% grass-fed beef, and seasonal whole turkeys:

Visit their farmstore at Mace Chasm Farm
Pre-order online and pick up their meats at the winter Saranac Lake Farmers’ Park-It, Hub on the Hill, and Snowy Grocery
Or visit their stand at the Saranac Lake and Keene Valley summer farmers’ markets

How Mace Chasm Farm Has Found a Niche Market for their Meat

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