[outofsalt]

Hi Bitsy,
According to wiki it has no expiration date as it is fully dehydrated and cured in salts, bacteria can't grow.
I make batches of 10 lbs or more and my kids polish it off in a week so I can't vouch for this answer but, I will say that vacuum pouching it would extend the time and certainly refrigerating it would help too. In the old days properly cured meat could last through the winter if kept in a cool cellar but, even then, by Spring folks would have a party to finish off the previous years supply.
As a Southerner you know that country ham keeps a long, long time and when vacuum pouched doesn't need refrigeration till you open the pack.

[Bitsy]

As a Southerner you know that country ham keeps a long, long time and when vacuum pouched doesn't need refrigeration till you open the pack.

I am ashamed to say, I didn't know that. Country ham is pretty much done by dry smoke, right? And is sort of dehydrated in the process, correct? I can relate to the 10 lbs at a time jerky. I never could keep up with the demand. Now with beef prices so high Jerky is a real treat.