This report describes changes in the red meat and poultry industries and assesses the potential of these industries for creating economic growth in the nonmetro United States. Growth in the red meat and poultry industries is not expected to be evenly spread throughout the Nation. The red meat packing industry is expected to continue growing in selected rural counties of the Plains States and the Corn Belt. And, poultry processing is expected to continue growing in areas of the Delmarva Peninsula, the Southeast, and Arkansas and Texas. Input-output analysis is used to examine the local effect of changes in final demand for meat products in areas with important red meat and poultry industries. Direct, indirect, and induced employment effects are explored. Because of greater labor intensity in poultry processing, the local employment effect of a change in final demand for meat products is larger for areas specializing in the poultry industry than for those areas specializing in the red meat industry.