Will mobile abattoirs help small-scale livestock farmers?
PART 1

By Jane Morrigan

Organic livestock producers face stiff challenges when it comes time to kill their animals according to certified organic standards. Over the last decade, a number of factors have led to the closure of many small plants, and consolidation toward larger processing facilities. Consumer demand, meanwhile, is increasing for specialty meat products such as natural, hormone-free, organic, grass-fed and humanely-raised meat. Those producers who are working to meet this growing niche market, as well as producers located far from the nearest abattoir, will be left out in the cold unless slaughter facilities to meet their needs are secured. One possible solution to this emerging crisis may be the use of mobile slaughterhouses that travel from farm to farm, providing a flexible, sanitary, humane, government-inspected, economical "kill and chill" service.

History and Rationale

Since the 1950s, northern regions of Europe have used mobile abattoirs for slaughtering farmed reindeer and muskoxen. Nowadays, a few multi-species units handle all types of livestock and game, from sheep to buffalo, and meet the strict requirements of the EU and global markets. One such unit has a trained staff of 8 people who can process 40 large cattle or buffalo in an 8-hr shift.

The Lopez Island mobile slaughterhouse, used for beef, hogs, goats and sheep, was designed and developed by livestock producers belonging to the Islands' Grown Farmers Cooperative and Washington State University, at an approximate cost of $150,000 USD. Their goal is to serve their community's demand for high-quality, locally produced meat. After nearly three years in operation, the coop has reached full capacity for their entire "farm-gate to plate" system, and it is paying for itself.

In Canada, Cliff Munroe, of Alberta Agriculture, says he's optimistic that one or two units will be built in the next couple of years, and they will use the Lopez Island model as a starting point for their made-in-Alberta design, which will likely be larger in capacity. He anticipates that since the US unit is USDA-approved, a similar one for use in Canada should be acceptable to the CFIA as well. In addition to niche markets, mobile abattoirs could also potentially serve northern areas where processing plants don't exist.

In the Abitibi region of Quebec, a group of producers is currently constructing a mobile abattoir to be ready for the spring of 2005. They plan to process small-carcass beef, pigs, sheep, farmed deer and caribou.

How it works

The Lopez Island unit is a modified Featherlite trailer, pulled by an F450 diesel flatbed, and contains three sections: processing, refrigeration, and HVAC/storage. It carries a 10 KW diesel generator and holds 1200 litres of potable water. Total length of truck and trailer is 49 ft., and the combined GVW is 14,500 kgs. The cooler can hold 10 steer carcasses, or equivalent amounts of other animal types (e.g. 40 lambs, or 20 hogs). Normally, only one person runs the entire operation, accompanied by a USDA-paid inspector.

Producers are responsible for all of the live animal handling, and are charged $75/steer. The worker first stuns the animal with a captive-bolt pistol, and then cuts their throat, in a secure stall, pen or chute that is located on the farm premises. Once the animal is bled out, the carcass is hoisted using a cable-winch into the nearby mobile unit where it is dressed out, and then stored in the cooler. The unit then returns to the cut and wrap facility that is also owned by the Lopez Community Land Trust members, where carcasses are hung for aging, cut into portions, wrapped and stored for market distribution. The offal (non-food portion of the carcass) remains on the farm, where it is composted. As coop member, Bruce Dunlop says, "There is no such thing as waste in this operation… everything is treated as a nutrient".

Jane Morrigan, M.Sc., P.Ag, is the Website Coordinator at the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. Please send comments or questions by email to oacc@nsac.ca. I thank Bruce Dunlop in Washington, Danielle Brault in Quebec, Cliff Munroe in Alberta, and others. Photos courtesy of Bruce Dunlop, Lopez Island, Washington, USA


en français


Posted February 2005