Farm Source Meat Shipping Guide
Meat Shipping Guide — Summary
A quick overview of how FarmSource meat orders — raw and cooked/ready-to-eat — get from your farm to the customer, whether they’re shipped or picked up on-site. Full guide covers every step, code citation, and packaging spec; this is the short version.
What the guide covers
Two fulfillment paths for the same product:
- Shipped orders — every step: insulated shipper, gel packs, and handling labels for third-party carrier transit.
- Customer pickup orders — a simplified path: prep the order and hold it in a freezer (raw meat) or cooler (cooked/RTE) until the customer arrives. Skip the shipping label, insulated shipper, gel packs, and handling labels unless the customer requests them. All procedures comply with OAC Chapter 3717-1 (Ohio Uniform Food Safety Code) and, where applicable, ORC Chapters 918 & 3717.
Product requirements (apply to every order, shipped or pickup)
- Amenable species (cattle, sheep, swine, goats): processed and packaged by a USDA-inspected or ODA-licensed butcher. Each package must bear the official inspection legend — do not modify, remove, or cover it.
- Nonamenable exemption (bison, cervids, rabbits, camelids, and covered birds under ORC 918.12): a farmer may raise, slaughter, and process on-farm and sell direct-to-consumer without USDA/ODA processing — only if no USDA/ODA processor within 90 miles will accept the species (a FarmSource platform rule, attested in writing). Amenable species are never eligible for this exemption.
- Label includes full ingredient list, allergens, net weight, and use-by / freeze-by date. Nonamenable exemption meat must also display the farm’s name and address.
- All raw meat must be frozen solid before packing — even if it was originally sold as fresh. Cooked or ready-to-eat products that weren’t sold frozen don’t need to be frozen, but must be packed cold.
The 6-step process
- Order notification & preparation — Check email, log into FarmSource, review product types, quantities, box sizes, and scheduled ship date.
- Product requirements — before you pack — Verify inspection legend (or nonamenable documentation), labeling, and frozen/cold state on every package.
- Print label, weigh, and pack — Prep within 24 hours of pickup. Weigh every item on a calibrated scale — each individual item must be within 10% of its ordered weight. Pack in a sealed EPS insulated shipper (min. 1¼” walls) with gel packs layered on bottom, sides, and top. Tape lid, place inside a corrugated outer box.
- Attach required labels — FarmSource shipping label on the outer box, plus “Freeze Upon Arrival” and “Perishable” handling labels in visible locations.
- Store package until handoff — Immediately place raw meat in a freezer (below 32°F) and cooked/RTE in a cooler (≤41°F). Never leave at room temp. Do not ship Fridays or day-before-holiday without guaranteed overnight.
- Carrier pickup & confirmation — Have package ready no more than 24 hours before the pickup window, staged in the freezer or cooler. Confirm the pickup in your FarmSource account.
Gel pack rule
1 oz of gel pack per 9 cubic inches of inner box volume, rounded up to the nearest ½ lb. The validated anchor case is the Uline S-22567 (599 cu in inner volume) at 4 lbs of gel packs. Full sizing table in the guide.
Temperature targets
- Raw meat: frozen solid (below 32°F) in storage, delivered at ≤41°F.
- Cooked or ready-to-eat products: refrigerated in storage, delivered at ≤41°F.
- Early pack allowance: an order may be packed more than 24 hours before ship date if the fully packed and sealed package is held continuously in a freezer until the carrier pickup window.
Customer pickup — what changes
Product-level requirements (inspection legend or nonamenable documentation, labeling, weight tolerance, frozen/cold state) still apply. What you can skip: the FarmSource shipping label, insulated shipper and gel packs, outer corrugated box, and the “Freeze Upon Arrival / Perishable” handling labels — unless the customer specifically requests them. Stage the prepped order in a freezer (raw meat) or cooler (cooked/RTE), hand it directly to the customer at the pickup window at ≤41°F, and confirm the pickup in your account.
Read the full Meat Shipping Guide for the complete gel pack sizing table, packing checklist, nonamenable species list, and Ohio meat code citations. Questions? Contact FarmSource Farmer Support at (740) 398-7920 or team@farm-source.org.