Abattoir cutbacks threaten small pig farms

Small-scale pork producers worry and wait, hoping abattoir production cuts don’t push them out of business.

Jono Hurst with Black Berkshire pigs on his Brooklands Free Range Farms at Blampied. Jono had to switch abattoirs temporarily when Diamond Valley Pork was forced to shut down due to a COVID outbreak in late July. Picture: Dannika Bonser

SMALL-scale pig farmers are on tenterhooks, hoping abattoirs’ reduced capacity will not squeeze them out of the food-supply chain.

Lauren Mathers, of Bundarra Berkshires, at Barham, NSW, processes about 25 pigs a week through Sinclair abattoir at Benalla.

She said abattoir owner Colin Sinclair had bent over backwards to continue processing for regular customers, but the business had been swamped by extra clients due to a coronavirus outbreak that forced Laverton abattoir Diamond Valley Pork to shut down.

“For a week they had to process for Diamond Valley Pork,” Ms Mathers said. “They do have loyalty to their regulars, but this time is typically a time we are short on pigs, and demand is now increasing.”

Mr Sinclair said his team had worked longer hours to process the extra stock from Diamond Valley, and that the situation was “very difficult”.

Belinda Hagan runs Berkshire pigs at Tooborac, processing stock twice a week through Sinclair meatworks.

“They are trying to keep us all safe,” she said of the abattoir’s compliance with the mandatory reduction to 66 per cent of full production. “At present we haven’t been affected, but it is a major concern to us.”

Jono Hurst Blampied uses Diamond Valley Pork to process up to six Berkshires pigs a week. He shifted to Koallah Farm abattoir when Diamond Valley shut, increasing his transport round trip by 150km.

Koallah owner Steven Castle said the Camperdown facility did not have to cut production because it had fewer than 25 employees.

“ We are certainly hoping to serve as many people as we can that might be looking for an alternative if bigger abattoirs can’t service them,” he said.

Mr Hurst said a processing bottleneck would threaten his livelihood, particularly if it extended out to a month of missed production.

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