Share The Harvest In Grundy County

Just in the nick of time, it has been announced that Grundy County will be able to take part in the “Share the Harvest” program.

Earlier this year, the announcement came that “Share the Harvest” would not take place in Grundy County for 2010. The reason was that our approved deer meat processor, Bob White Processing, was getting out of the deer business to concentrate on domestic livestock. Bob White Processing had been active in the Share the Harvest program for the past 13 years which has yielded 26,000 pounds of venison.
Grundy County Conser-vation Agent Jeff Berti was notified last Friday that a new deer processor would be approved to participate in Share the Harvest just days before the opening of rifle season. J & M Deer Processing located at 618 SW 65th Street in rural Jamesport is anxious to begin, with the facility licensed by the USDA Agriculture Meat Inspection Program. J & M Deer Processing is located one mile north of State Highway F on SW 65th Street. Look for green and black signs that will guide the way.
Success of Share the Harvest in Grundy County is due to local sponsorship that pays for processing not covered by the statewide cooperate sponsorship. For 2010, the Conservation Federation of Missouri will pay the processing for 15 deer. Local sponsorship will pay for an additional 15 deer, bringing the total of deer to 30 that will be distributed to Grundy County families in need. The target of 30 deer should produce approximately 1,400 pounds of venison for the Community Food Pantry. The only catch is that this program is getting a late start, so the word needs to get out that the program is back in business and looking for hunters to donate their harvested deer to Share the Harvest. Grundy County will not be listed in the deer brochure, since the approval came so late.
Hunters wanting to participate in the Share the Harvest Program will take their legally harvested deer to the J & M Deer Processing. Only whole deer donations will be eligible for the paid processing. Hunters willing to donate their deer to Share the Harvest are not responsible for any payment. Partial deer donations to Share the Harvest may be given, but are not eligible for the paid processing.
There are NO administrative costs to this program. All money collected goes toward the cost of processing the venison for distribution in the county. The Trenton First Christian Church coordinates this project and works with the Grundy County Com-munity Food Pantry to distribute the venison to qualifying residents of Grundy County. Eligibility for this service is directly linked to those individuals who qualify to receive assistance from the local food pantry.
Additional questions can be answered by calling the Chillicothe office for the Missouri Department of Conservation at 660-646-6122 or a local department representative in Grundy County.