Johnson visits Wall Meat facility, praises interstate agreement

WALL, S.D. — Congressman Dusty Johnson applauding the new interstate agreement Thursday afternoon while touring the Wall Meat processing facility.

He talked with the staff to get a feel for how the business is faring.

Johnson says there are two major issues when it comes to meat processing in the U.S. – transparency and capacity.

He says businesses, such as Wall Meat, are good examples of how the country can increase capacity by processing locally.

“Federal inspection is not the easiest thing in the world to come by. You’ve got some states like South Dakota where we have processes that are equal to or better than what we see at the federal level,” Johnson said. “We want to give those folks, you know people who are inspected like Wall Meats, even that much more of an opportunity to be able to sell into the stream of commerce. That’s going to give them that much more hope and belief that they’re going to have a business case to expand.”

Wall Meat workers say they’re grateful for Johnson’s continued support.

The company recently expanded with a new store in Rapid City – and with Thursday’s announcement – they believe things are only looking up for the industry.

“I think growth is needed for sure. If another plant went down somewhere else you know it just makes it harder for everybody else. It’s not even about competition anymore you know? Competition is irrelevant now,” said Dan Chaurfauros, Wall Meat butcher.

The new Wall Meat store in Rapid City offers the same services as the home base, including meat smoking in the near future.

The shop is located at Elk Vale Road and Eglin Street.