Newtown Farmer To Lead American Association Of Meat Processors

NEWTOWN, PA — After more than three decades as a member of the American Association of Meat Processors, Newtown's Dwight Ely is now in charge.

Ely, who has owned and operated Ely Farm Products for 40 years, was elected last month by his colleagues to serve as president of the AAMP, the largest meat trade organization in North America, according to a news release.

Ely will lead an association that includes more than 1,400 medium and small meat poultry and food businesses, including packers, processors, slaughterers and wholesalers.

After graduating from Council Rock High School, Ely studied at the University of Tennessee, where he met professor and meat-processing expert Gordan Davis, the man who inspired him to enter the meat business, according to a report by Peg Quann of the Bucks County Courier Times.

Ely returned to his family’s farm on Woodhill Road after college and opened his butcher shop, Ely Pork Products, in 1981, the release says. He’s a seventh-generation farmer, with his family’s farming history in the area dating back to the late 1700s, according to Ely Farm Products’ website.

Ely’s business has won more than two dozen national awards from the AAMP over the past 30 years for its meats. Since 2006, it’s been producing award-winning European-style, raw-milk cheeses. The company changed its name to Ely Farm Products that year to “better reflect” and showcase its wide variety of products.

Ely Farm Products earned its first national cheesemaking award in 2012 at the American Cheese Society competition. Ely Farm Products also operates a large-scale deer-processing facility.

In 2015, Ely was inducted into the AAMP Cured Meats Hall of Fame in which recognizes meat processors that have shown "long-standing excellence in the production of cured meats."

Visit ElyFarmProducts.com for more information about the farm, a full list of its products and recipes.