HAINES — Sexton Ranches near Haines has bought into the local food movement, big time. The family-operated business sells its beef and sheep exclusively at farmers markets and to restaurants in Eastern Oregon and across the Idaho state line. Its cows are grass-fed, which generally produces leaner meat.

But there’s one part of the business that owners Andi and Richard Sexton can’t do locally — slaughter and process their animals.

For that, they take their livestock on a 2½-hour drive over icy passes to Nampa, Idaho, where the nearest U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified slaughterhouse is located.

“Going every other week with a load of live animals it makes traveling pretty dangerous with the icy roads,’’ Andi Sexton said.

Sexton isn’t the only Oregon rancher inconvenienced by hours-long drives to the nearest USDA-certified plant, especially in Eastern Oregon. That’s one reason Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center is studying whether there would be demand for a state-run service to certify slaughters, according to study author Cathy Durham, an OSU marketing economist.

Rising consumer demand for local products has prompted Oregon ranchers to try the Sextons’ approach of selling their animals locally, Durham said. But federal regulations require retail-sold meat to be inspected at a USDA-certified facility, with a federal inspector present for the slaughter of all animals. Since Oregon has just 13, mostly small-scale slaughterhouses, however, many farmers and ranchers find they have to travel hours to prepare their animals for the local market.

“There’s been a lot of growth and interest in that sort of purchasing, to buy local,’’ Durham said. “If you have to ship (meat) that far away and then bring it back, there’s a question of the practicality.’’

The idea behind a state inspection service would be to create something that’s more flexible than the USDA, while still ensuring that meat meets federal food safety guidelines, said Bill Moore, president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. That would make it easier for consumers to buy locally raised beef, while allowing ranchers, especially small operations, to cut their transportation costs and continue to run profitable businesses.

Right now, most of Oregon’s USDA facilities are west of the Cascades.

“It’s a little easier to get a USDA inspector to move there than to Unity, Oregon, or Madras or wherever,’’ Moore said.

In fact, Central Oregon ranchers are in a better position that most other animal producers east of the mountains, thanks to two USDA-certified slaughter facilities: Butcher Boys in Prineville and Oregon Beef Co. in Madras.

Although restaurants are cutting back orders for meat during the economic slowdown, Oregon Beef Co. is doing brisk business slaughtering and processing Central Oregon cattle for sale at grocery stores and directly to individuals, said President Stann Dmytryk.

“The restaurants are slow, but the custom end of our business is fairly full, and the retail end is extremely busy,’’ Dmytryk said. “We’re seeing a lot more people that are raising sheep and cattle, even hogs, that are wanting to market locally rather than sell to the big boys.’’

The biggest drawback to a state system is the cost, according to people who have studied the issue. The federal government will pay only half the cost of a state inspection system (27 states currently run their own meat inspection services), under USDA rules, meaning the rest of the cost would have to be borne by animal producers or the state. With Oregon

s budget being squeezed, it’s likely the ranchers would have to pay the cost of the inspections.

“If you’re going to have somebody on-site, you’re going to pay for it,’’ said Moore, of the Cattleman’s Association.

Under the USDA system, slaughterhouse owners pay for the office, expenses and any other costs incurred by a USDA inspector, but the federal government pays the inspector’s salary.

Cost is what may ultimately slow the state from starting its own inspection service in the near future, said Vance Bybee, administrator for the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Division.

“Certainly there is some unmet demand (for slaughter facilities), but I think it is the exception rather than the rule,’’ Bybee said.

Still, Cory Parsons, OSU’s Baker County extension agent, said he thinks a state program could be a boon for east-side ranchers.

“I would think that if there was a state-sponsored program I think it would open up some marketing opportunities for those producers,’’ Parsons said.

The best system, according to Doug Breese, who owns Pilot Butte Hereford Ranch, would be a certified mobile slaughterhouse. That would minimize the need to ship cattle around the state and make it easier to sell locally, Breese said. Mobile slaughter operations have been used in Oregon to kill just a few cows that are consumed by their owner, but not for retail meat sales.

Dancing Cow Farm owner Jerre Kosta Dodson said the less meat moves, the tastier it is. Her farm, east of Prineville, has been selling directly to consumers since 2002, using the Butcher Boys slaughter facility just down the road from the farm, she said.

“When you’re shipping your animals, you take a chance of affecting your meat,’’ Dodson said. “They can poke each other and bruise it. The less you travel with your animals, the better.’’

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Keith Chu can be reached at 202-662-7456 or at kchu@bendbulletin.com.