First cows processed in brand new mobile abattoir

Riverina farmer John Doyle is the first Australian farmer to use newly licenced mobile abattoir in NSW.

Berrigan cattle and potato farmer John Doyle has become the first producer to use the Provenir mobile abattoir services. Picture: Jayne Newgreen

RIVERINA cattle and potato producer John Doyle is the first farmer in Australia to process livestock on-farm through Provenir’s new mobile abattoir, which has been granted a licence to operate by the NSW Food Authority.

John supplied 14 Herefords, which were slaughtered on his property near Berrigan by Provenir’s team last week.

The mobile unit is in a semi-trailer and slaughter is carried out by a team of four, including two meat inspectors.

“I’ve got a lot of trust in what they have done. They have put a lot of work in,” John said about the Provenir team who built the unit.

John runs a self-replacing Hereford herd of about 120 females, as well as growing carrots and winter crops on 400ha.

He said Provenir co-founder Chris Balazs approached him in January about supplying cattle to be processed on farm.

“Most farmers have killed their own livestock at some stage and had that experience of eating beef that hasn’t been transported,” John said. “Generally it is a lot more tender.

“The other side of it is the welfare of the stock, for the last month of their life — if it (slaughter) can be done in their surroundings it would be better for both the animals and the meat. That is a big thing.

“The cattle for the day’s kill were all yarded with their mates, they were very calm. Cattle like to be among the ones they grew up with.”

John set up temporary yards to accommodate Provenir’s two trailers, which contain the slaughter unit and to transport carcasses and waste.

The NSW licence allows Provenir to process animals on farms and sell the meat to the public.

“It has definitely been a challenge to be able to provide this innovative service on a farm,” Chris said. “That is from multiple points of view, with regards to the registration of the truck — that was a challenge — as well the food safety standards that we had to meet. There were a lot of boxes that we had to tick.”