On-farm meat processing interest grows as coronavirus impacts abattoirs in Victoria
The advent of the mobile abattoir means these pigs will never have the stress of travelling to an abattoir to be processed. (ABC Rural: Sally Bryant)
A pork producer in New South Wales' central west region says he has seen an increase in enquiries about on-farm processing since the coronavirus pandemic.
Key points:
- Pork producer says on-farm meat processing is becoming a market advantage
- There have been more enquiries about mobile abattoirs since the coronavirus pandemic reduced production at Victorian abattoirs
- Local processing gives farmers greater control over animal welfare and final product
Extraordinary Pork in Dubbo processes its own cuts of meat for market, rather than sending stock to an abattoir several hours away.
Owner Michael Hicks said it was something more producers were interested in doing, particularly since COVID-19 reduced capacity at abattoirs in Victoria.
"COVID-19 has certainly shown up weaknesses in the value chain, in terms of getting produce to market,"he said.
"Anyone who can simplify that process to get the produce to the customer will certainly be at an advantage for sure."
He said, in recent weeks, more producers had been making enquiries about his set-up and how they might be able to replicate it.
Mr Hicks said it was a trend that was growing in the industry with farmers able to market on-farm processing to customers.
"Consumers increasingly are chasing more provenance for their meat, where it's coming from, and they're more interested in how it is produced."
Michael Hicks processes his pigs on his farm in the NSW central west, so they no longer have the stress of a trip to a regional abattoir. (ABC Rural" Sally Bryant)
More control over animal welfare and supply chain
Mr Hicks said on-farm processing also allowed the producer to have more control over the humane treatment of animals.
"From an animal welfare perspective, it's as good as you can get. It's certainly one of our main values that we hold here.
"It's really critical that we hold the highest animal welfare standards possible."
He said it also allowed for more of the pork carcase to be prepared for sale and saved the logistics of transporting stock to the nearest appropriate abattoir, which was several hours away.
Forging ahead despite COVID-19, drought.
Meantime, challenges in the industry have not hampered plans for an abattoir to be reopened at Coonamble.
The Castlereagh Regional Abattoir has not operated in 20 years and was recently bought by two businessmen who plan to reopen the plant for cattle, sheep and goats in October.
Manager Mark Goodman said despite the drought, he was confident there was still enough stock going to market to make the business viable.
"We've got a little bit of an advantage here in the fact that those big Queensland abattoirs need a lot of cattle to keep them going,"he said.
"At Coonamble, we could do 250 to 260 a day, and it's just a nice tidy amount."
"I was at the cattle sale here at Coonamble three weeks ago, and there were 850 head yarded there and if our works were going at the time that certainly would have facilitated our clients."