Dardanup Butchering Company – a long-standing abattoir based in Picton near Bunbury – has announced that it will no longer slaughter and process meat for small West Australian producers.

The company contacted customers last week and informed them animals would not be accepted for processing as part of its custom kill service after October 11.

For producers like Zoe and Travis Allington of Allington Family Farm in Greenbushes, the timing of DBC’s announcement gave them less than a month to find another abattoir to process the Berkshire pork and Merino-cross lambs they raise in the South West.

The issue is that WA only has a handful of abattoirs that can handle small commercial meat production orders, with most of these abattoirs already at capacity. (Larger abattoirs such as WAMMCO in Katanning only process meat for their own brands and do not offer custom kill services.)

Regardless of where the Allingtons decide to send their pigs and sheep, it’s inevitable that switching abattoirs will have a knock-on effect on back pockets: both theirs and those of their customers.

“As small producers, we’re already charging a premium for our products because our costs are so high,” said Zoe Allington, who sells her meat at farmers markets and direct to customers.

“We have to cover all the costs from the minute the animal is born to the moment you buy it from us. Every one of those costs has to be accounted for and none of them are cheap.”

While rising prices are unquestionably bad news for everyone, it’s a better outcome than the alternative: seeing smaller, farm-to-table producers – such as Marissa Taylor and Tony Passamani of Marrybrook Premium Produce – disappearing from butchers’ displays and restaurant menus across the state.

Despite Marybrook’s grass-fed lamb being nationally recognised, the couple stopped producing meat in April.

Two factors that shaped their decision were the effects of the live sheep export ban, plus the demands of farming and selling full-time. Just as concerning were rumours that DBC would soon stop providing custom kills: a decision, says Taylor, that was a case of not if, but when.

“We could see the writing on the wall,” Taylor said.

“[Now that the announcement has been made] it’s such a brutal blow for small producers.”

DBC general manager Brian Pittendreigh said the abattoir’s decision to stop custom kills was made to protect the business’s 270 employees.

“Capacity constraints at DBC’s operations mean the company must prioritise its long-term service customers and its own production,” Pittendreigh said.

“With spring, demand is growing and there is also a significant uplift in demand due to abattoirs across the board restricting volume.”

For Sasha and Ben McDonald of Glenarty Road – a farm, cellar door and restaurant in Karridale, south of Margaret River – DBC’s announcement meant they were now in the market for a new abattoir to send their grass-fed sheep to.

The couple were doing their best to stay upbeat and find a silver lining in the situation.

“There’s always something that can go wrong in farming,” said Sasha, who has been in touch with other abattoirs and butchers to find a solution.

“I guess this is a good chance to look at what we’re doing and revise our model.”

Whatever that solution looks like, the key for many in the industry is to ensure that small-scale farmers can continue to live off the land and ensure eaters have a choice when it comes to what they buy and what they eat.

“The big issue here is our food security when it comes to food sovereignty and allowing people to have the choice about what food they want to purchase and where that food has come from,” Allington said.

“The decision by DBC takes away from people’s choice, making us have to buy from the select number of people who are allowed to kill animals. Most of those places are big corporations.”