Farina Locker Closing at End of Year

(FARINA LOCKER SERVICE OWNER ALAN STOCK)

BY RHIANNON BRANCH, FARMWEEK

After 43 years in the business, Alan Stock, owner of Farina Locker Service in Fayette County, is retiring at the end of the year.

Stock was hired at Farina Locker in April 1980, where he worked for 10 years before purchasing the business Jan. 1, 1990. Since then, he has helped process about 1,200 cattle and hogs each year from more than 200 customers in a 35-mile radius.

Stock says a lot has changed in the industry over four decades. “When I first started here the average beef animal would live weight 1,000 pounds on average,” he told FarmWeek. “And today they are at least 1,200 pounds, a lot of them 1,400.”

He recalls a large increase in production during the COVID pandemic. “It has kind of leveled off now to about what it used to be.” But he says there is still strong interest in locally produced meat. “I think local processors will have to increase productivity to keep up with the need moving forward.”

Stock says he is looking forward to retirement with plans for a lot of camping in the summer, but there are aspects of the job he will miss. “I’m going to miss the employees and the customers for sure. I will miss them big time, I really will,” Stock said. “They have been wonderful to me and they keep saying they are happy for me but sure hate to see me go.”

Seeing no interest in purchasing the business, Farina Locker Service will close its doors in late December. David Courson worked alongside Stock at the locker from 1980 to 2017 and has been a long-time customer. He said producers like him see a lot of value in local meat processors. “It is very convenient, and you always get your own meat back,” Courson said. “Now I am trying to figure out where I can get a quality job done the way it was done at Farina Locker.”

Courson plans to visit other local lockers to see how they process and package their meat before deciding future plans for butchering his livestock.