A few years ago, Jessica Roosa, owner of This Old Farm, based in Colfax, Ind., was trying to solve employee turnover issues on the slaughter floor and began investigating solutions for her small, aged facility that is a custom service processor of beef, pork, lamb and poultry. What she discovered was changes that helped staff also helped her animals.

Slaughterhouse operations are evolving. Propelled by advancements in technology and methodologies, plants are producing higher quality proteins with a greater emphasis on food safety and the humane treatment of animals.

The corneal reflex has been one of the go-to indicators of unconsciousness in stunned livestock for decades.

Across the industry, many of the basic slaughter processes and techniques have remained the same.

Processors face a variety of trials with slaughter equipment. It is a real challenge to design equipment that is durable, easy to maintain and capable of work cycling in environments that have large changes in temperature and humidity. In addition, processors still need to protect workers and be concerned about food safety.