Source: Abby Whitt, WATAUGA DEMOCRAT, 7/3/20


Local farmers met at Shipley Farms in Vilas on June 26 to discuss a collaborative plan between Shipley Farms, other local beef farmers, the N.C. Cooperative Extension and Cole’s Meat Processing to open and begin operating a butchery in Watauga County by July 15. Led by Shipley Farms, but a separate enterprise from its farm operations, Watauga Butchery came about due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted closures of meat processing facilities and delays in slaughterhouses. Bob Shipley, owner of Shipley Farms, said that the community’s regular meat processors are backed up until July 2021.

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