June 6, 2011

 

New England to expand slaughterhouses

 

 

New England agriculture officials intend to have more local slaughterhouses as they aim to enhance food output to enable the area to be more self-sufficient should disasters make it impossible to bring in food.

 

However, the stumbling blocks for farmers and meat processors are many. Firstly, setting up a slaughterhouse is a big investment, and local zoning rules bar such businesses. Meatpackers in New England said it is hard to compete price-wise with slaughterhouses in other states, and they have trouble keeping skilled meat cutters and other workers. As a result, New England has only 28 slaughterhouses, said Chelsea Lewis, agriculture development coordinator for the Vermont Agency for Agriculture. In contrast, Wisconsin alone has about 285 small meat processors.

 

The region's state agriculture departments have commissioned a US$47,500 study to look at ways to address the problem. It is meant to help New England's dairy farmers diversify with sales of beef provide local, organic meat to meet consumer demand and help restore self-sufficiency to the region. It will focus on ways to establish markets for local farmers to sell beef to schools, hospitals and other institutions.

 

Lewis said it will measure the level of demand, determine how much institutional buyers are willing to pay for local, organic meat, and assess whether beef can be produced in New England at a cost competitive with that of meat brought in from elsewhere.

 

Peter Orr, a farmer, said he thought the study should look at whether there are enough beef producers in New England to justify more slaughterhouses there. Many farms have been displaced by development, and New England relies on food brought over a handful of bridges on New York's Hudson River, he said. But demand for local products has grown recently as consumers seek assurances that what they buy is safe.

 

"Over the past five to 10 years, there has been a consistent interest of people to buy local, and agriculture is in a renaissance," Orr said.

 

Orr sends his cattle to Pennsylvania for processing. He called it a classic example of food production in New England whereby cattle are raised locally, shipped out of the region to be processed and brought back for sale.

 

Dan Mandich, owner of Westminster Meats, a small slaughterhouse that opened a year ago in Westminster Station, Vt., said tough federal beef production standards, high capital costs for slaughterhouse startups and the amount of labour needed are obstacles to opening more processing plants. But he said demand for locally produced meat is encouraging.

 

"There is a real drive here to eat local food, produce and meats. It is different with vegetables. You just pick them," Mandich said. "It is a big to-do to get this thing going."

 

Meat that comes from his slaughterhouse is more expensive because it is hung for two weeks to improve flavour, making the process longer than operations that kill and process animals the same day, Mandich said. He buys animals from local farmers who take the meat back and sell it to restaurants and supermarkets.

 

Other states are also looking at ways to boost local beef production. The University of Georgia is studying the market in the Southeast, and Maryland agencies and groups are developing pilot projects to boost the use of locally produced protein foods such as beef, pork, poultry, dairy, eggs and seafood in Maryland health care facilities.

 

Cornell University has bought steers for the past year from nearby farms and raises them at the university's teaching and research center. The animals are slaughtered in Pennsylvania, then the meat is brought back and served at three to five dining facilities on the university's Ithaca, N.Y., campus. Cost is always an issue.

 

The dining centers are used to pretty cheap prices, said Matt LeRoux, agriculture marketing specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension. Due to the smaller scale of local beef processors, the challenge is always prices, LeRoux said.