The original building of what is now Faltin Meat Market in Howells, Neb., dates to the late 1800’s. It was a meat shop then and it remains one today under the direction of owner-operator Ryan Baumert.
Baumert had worked at the shop as a clean-up worker in 1992-93 but left to pursue a career in meat science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, about 1½ hours from Howells. He kept in touch with then-owner Dave Faltin during his schooling.
Baumert went on to learn about meat from such greats as the late Roger Mandigo, PhD, and Dennis Burton, PhD, and worked in the meats lab. It was there that he found out about which beef cuts provide the most tender meat. After earning his bachelor’s degree in animal science, he coached the meat judging team, became talented in meat fabrication, assisted grad students on their meat projects and the teaching staff with many of their grant-funded research projects. In 2001, he obtained his master’s degree and was delving more into cooking and smoking meats.
Knowing there was still more to learn and others to teach, Baumert served as a food safety and sanitation instructor and taught HACCP to small plant operators in four states including South Dakota, Missouri and Kansas.
Close-knit business
Then that bug that says “you should own and operate your own meat shop” sent him back to the Faltin plant. Dave was getting ready to retire and by January of 2006, Baumert was the new owner.
He bought the recipes for many of the value-added products, tweaked some into new blends and developed a few new products of his own. The walls of his retail area are where he displays the plethora of awards the shop has won in head-to-head competition with other meat processors.
Over the past 19 years Ryan has continued to invest in upgraded processing equipment and changed to more environmentally friendly refrigeration systems.
He continues to work with groups like the Future Farmers of America in his community of 600, where agriculture and farming rule the roost. He emphasizes high quality in the more than 50 styles of sausage, brats, snack sticks and bacon that his company produces.
“I kept the Faltin name on the shop out of respect for that family and the great reputation they had earned over the years,” Baumert explained. “Today we have two full-time employees and three part-timers.”
His wife Mary works as a clinical pharmacologist at the nearby Veterans Administration clinic, but he also depends on her to come in to help at the plant after her own work hours, wrapping meat, establishing and maintaining Facebook and other social media advertising or playing a key role wherever she is needed to fill in.
Mary also helps all Nebraska meat processors in her time off work by serving as the executive secretary of the Nebraska Association of Meat Processors, an organization that Baumert has been an active member of since taking over the Howells meat facility.
The spread of three buildings totaling about 4,000 square feet gives Faltin Meat Market a slaughter and processing area, where they handle about two-thirds of their sales in custom processing and another adjoining structure that is devoted to retail sales. The original plant from the 1800’s at one time had 600 frozen food lockers for customers without home freezers to store their meats and frozen fruits and vegetables.
In February, Faltin Meat Market opened what they call the Meat Vending Room, a walled off area near the dry goods storage location. This is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week area, where customers can come in and purchase fresh or frozen meats from three vending machines, two of which dispense fresh packaged meats for cash, debit or credit sales. This location takes little staffing, and Baumert said the first few weeks of operation were very promising but noted that he expects the vending area to greatly increase in traffic during the warmer weather outdoor cooking season.
The Faltin Meat Market operates under a retail exempt license and a custom exempt license for inspection. Their custom business draws livestock producers and wild game hunters from as much as three hours away.
“Most of our advertising is through ‘positive’ word of mouth and the great work ethic and skills of our employees,” Baumert advised. “In this area hot dogs and smoked pork links seem to outsell everything else we offer.”
It’s very evident when he talks about his employees that he regards them as family as well. He explained that “Scott has been here for 18 of the 19 years we’ve been open, handling slaughter and fabrication” or that “Hope has worked at our retail counter for 17 years” and that he is firm in his belief that everyone in the shop is counted as family.
He feels fortunate to have and retain their loyalty, noting that years ago he looked at a map that showed eight custom meat plants within a 40-mile-square of his plant. He pointed out that a few years later there are now 10 plants in that same area.
Source: Faltin Meat MarketLessons learned and shared
It is exactly that message of caring and feeling he exudes when the 49-year-old owner mentioned that he has served with the local EMT squad since 2009 and has been its captain since 2013. Then his voice softens as he explains what happened on Dec. 14, 2016:
“I thought I had been around meat for so many years that I didn’t have to worry about the danger that always lurks in a meat processing business. I was boning at the beef table with no safety gear except for a cutting glove. You could say I thought I knew everything and knew my way around every task. Then the knife slipped.”
Baumert said the knife sank five inches into his groin and upper leg area and was gushing blood. He called for a tourniquet and his rescue radio and summoned the EMT squad. He knew that time wasn’t on his side.
“I had severed 95% of my femoral artery and 5% of the femoral vein,” he recalled. “The EMT squad was there in a few minutes and the Life Flight helicopter was called. Although Omaha was the closest tier one emergency facility, the wind was blowing toward Sioux City, and speed was of the essence. We flew there, all the while with medical help holding the tourniquet tight and another person keeping their knee on the gash to keep pressure on the wound.
“I knew what was going on and how serious or possibly fatal it could have been,” he said. “I lost 1¾ liters of blood, went through surgery and spent 48 hours in the hospital. There were problems because the wound wouldn’t stay shut for seven weeks. Ultimately I did not require physical therapy or occupational therapy.
“Let’s just say I know I was too cocky about my own safety,” Baumert said. “Now, I know that I can never take my safety for granted, nor for any of my employees, or for anyone who works with meat processing as an occupation.”
Baumert was asked and was happy to share words of caution and the need for safety aprons, tourniquets and other safety equipment with the folks of the Nebraska Association of Meat Processors and the American Association of Meat Processors at their conventions.
“There is not a plant anywhere that has a worker who is immune from potential danger,” he added. “That safety equipment is precious and priceless, and it can save many lives. We have it in our plant because I never want to have to make a call to tell a family that their loved one who worked from me...well, you know.”
Baumert reflects on that brief time in his life that changed everything around him and said he prays that all others will take safety more seriously:
“I’ve been in plants where no one in the kill floor area was wearing any mesh or safety apron,” he said. “It is something you can’t really feel okay about once you’ve seen what can happen.”
