Federated Farmers is confident a case of unlicensed meat-selling in Northland isn't part of a wider trend.

MPI has prosecuted a man who sold home kill which hadn't been properly processed.

Federated Farmers Rural Butcher chairman Hayden Cleland says it's something he hasn't heard of before.

"I've been in the industry for twenty years and I certainly haven't ever seen it happen," he says.

Cleland hopes the prosecution will discourage other illegal sales.