Micro abattoirs a local solution for small producers, says South West business community

To mitigate the ongoing closure of regional abattoirs, the business community is advocating for farmers to work together towards a “localised” long-term solution in the Warren-Blackwood region.

Blackwood Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Tracey Hodgkins said exploring alternative abattoir services, like farmer and community-owned “micro” abattoirs, could be be a long-term solution.

However, farmers and small producers need to work together she said.

It comes after a shock announcement from the Dardanup Butchering Company who will no longer provide custom service kills for small producers, to instead focus on large-scale businesses.

Ms Hodgkins said it was not a new problem for small producers.

“Our farmers have been talking about this (micro services) for a long time, because it still is a huge cost to get up towards Dardanup anyway,” she said.

“There’s a few other little micro abattoirs around, but they’re getting filled to capacity very quickly, so we need a better solution.’’

Now surveying to find out more about the impact closures have on producers, the chamber has received 50 responses from “devastated” farmers.

“But, that devastation needs to lead to action on this,” Ms Hodgkins said.

“I’m not a farmer, let me be quite clear about that — and that means that I have no skin in the game, which also means that I’m quite impartial as well.

“It’s not to my specific benefits to have or not to have micro abattoirs in the region. I think it’s important to note that although the farmers want this, they have to put their hands in the pockets themselves to do some of this.

“If they can partner with each other and with government, there should be no reason why we can’t solve this problem.’’

The development of community-run micro abattoirs — small-scale, localised facilities which can process limited numbers of livestock for smaller producers — would benefit small producers building their own brands and cut down on transportation costs, she told the Times.

Ms Hodgkins is also the chief executive officer of the Future Food Network, with the main focus on supply chains.

However, Ms Hodgkins said she became aware of the need for more abattoirs options more than 10 years while working for Southern Dirt, a grower group in Kojonup.

She said at the time there was a “push” by government for food sovereignty and paddock to plate.

“(However) there was nothing except these big processes around,” Ms Hodgkins said.

“Every single farmer I came across wanted another option — they wanted to do a brand. We’re not talking a new problem here.”