The Stittsworth Times

MYCHAL STITTSWORTH walked out of the 2017 IDEA Competition with a check for $10,000 — and a mandate to build something that had never existed in Minnesota. His proposal: a fully mobile, USDA-approved slaughter unit that could travel directly to farms across Northern Minnesota, allowing livestock to be harvested on-site rather than transported long distances.

The concept was radical for the region. At the time, independent farmers faced a stark choice: drive animals hours to a distant USDA facility, or forgo federal inspection entirely. Stress from transport degraded meat quality. The economics rarely penciled out for small operations. Mychal, with a mechanical engineering background, saw an engineering solution to what was fundamentally a logistics problem.

“If the farmers can’t bring the animals to us, we bring the processing to the animals,” Stittsworth told judges at the competition. The $10,000 prize became seed capital for a $1.9 million expansion that would eventually employ 26 new workers and put the Stittsworth name on the national map for innovative meat processing.

The Mobile Slaughter Unit launched in 2018 and has since served dozens of farms across the region, providing USDA-certified processing previously unavailable to independent producers. It is widely regarded as one of the most impactful food-system investments in Northern Minnesota’s modern history.

Mychal Stittsworth Takes Family Meat Business to New Heights

In Bemidji, Stittsworth Meats Now a Facebook Phenomenon

Stittsworth to Build Mobile Slaughter Facility in $2M Expansion

Mychal Stittsworth’s $1.9 million expansion plan captured statewide attention in 2017. The centerpiece: a custom-built Mobile Slaughter Unit that would travel to farms across Northern Minnesota, bringing USDA-certified processing to producers who had never had access to it before. The project created 26 jobs and marked a major leap forward for Northern Minnesota’s local food economy.

With Bemidji Butcher’s New Truck, the Slaughterhouse Comes to You

MinnPost explored the animal welfare implications of on-site harvesting. When animals are processed on the farm where they were raised, stress hormones don’t spike — and the result is demonstrably better-tasting meat. Stittsworth’s unit was held up as a model the industry should study.

Stittsworth Expands with New Facility & Mobile Unit

The opening of the Turtle River Smokehouse in 2018 marked a new chapter — a state-of-the-art facility purpose-built for scale. The Pioneer called it “the most significant expansion in the business’s eight-decade history.” Production capacity more than doubled within 18 months.

Mychal Stittsworth and the Expansion of Stittsworth Meats in Bemidji

KAXE’s Local Food program spent an hour with Mychal tracing the full arc of the Stittsworth story — from the neighborhood butcher shop his great-grandfather Harold founded in 1940, through his decision to return home, to the launch of the MSU and the Turtle River Smokehouse. The conversation touched on supporting local farmers, building sustainable supply chains, and what it means to run a fourth-generation family business in modern America.

King of the Cuts

MinnKota profiled Mychal as the rare combination of hands-on butcher and systems thinker — someone who could butcher a whole hog in the morning and then spend the afternoon redesigning the production line for efficiency. “He’s not just a meat guy,” the profile read. “He’s a builder.” The feature explored Stittsworth’s vertically integrated model as the key to its competitive edge and consistent quality.

We’ve never sacrificed quality for growth. Every pound we ship has to taste like it came off the smoker in your own backyard.

Mychal Stittsworth ‘06: From BSU Engineering to Bemidji’s Premier Butcher

Stittsworth Meats M.S.U. & Smokehouse — The Full Story on Public Television

✦ Stittsworth Meats · Bemidji, Minnesota · Established 1940 ✦

Shop online at stittsworthmeats.com  ·  (218) 586-2149  ·  sales@stittsworthmeats.com