The University of Missouri’s new $35 million meat science laboratory is expected to be completed in July, with officials planning to open the facility in October, according to a university spokesperson.
Mizzou broke ground on the Michael L. Parson Meat Science Education and Training Laboratory in April 2025, funded through funds appropriated by the Missouri legislature under former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. The lab is intended to provide new tools and technology for leaders and workers in the meat processing industry.
The project is consolidating the Don Naumann Muscle Foods Processing Laboratory, also known as the Mizzou Meat Market. The market, run by students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, sells USDA-approved prime cuts of beef, pork and lamb.
“The most prominent improvement is that everything will be connected; the abattoir and processing rooms will be in one building,” said Teagan Schnurbusch, state extension specialist in meat science, in a Mizzou news release.
“The size and capacity of the new facility are also big improvements,” Schnurbusch added.
The new facility will allow staff to increase the number of on-hand livestock for research, sales and hands-on experiences for students, she said in the release. Schnurbusch added that the lab will feature a new two-truck pass-through smokehouse, which will provide a separate ready-to-eat area that reduces food safety concerns.
The lab will be managed by an operations manager, and eventually, two other full-time employees, Schnurbusch said. Similar to the current Mizzou Meat Market, students will work under the full-time employees and help with all aspects of the job.
A classroom will be connected to the processing room inside the new facility. Also, a railing will be built between the processing room and the coolers to chill whole sides of beef carcasses. Schnurbusch said the current facility has the same setup, but the rails can only roll in quarters of a beef carcass.
“The classroom will also be bigger and better equipped for all the various hands-on activities we will do in class,” she said. “Students learn better by seeing and working on real-life examples. This classroom will also serve as a training room for new student workers.”
