Diamond Valley Pork: Abattoir changes processing schedule for small producers
Six months after the JBS takeover, Victoria’s largest pig abattoir has put small-scale producers on edge with changes to its kill schedule.
Small-scale pig producers across Victoria are nervous they could soon be squeezed out of the industry as Victoria’s largest pig abattoir makes changes to its service-kill schedule.
The Weekly Times understands Diamond Valley Pork has told pig farmers that kill slots for small lots of stock will no longer be available on Mondays or Tuesdays.
Farmers affected by the change told The Weekly Times they were worried about shrinking access to processing, but hoped Diamond Valley Pork’s new owner, JBS, would stand by its promise to continue serving small-scale producers.
JBS head of corporate and regulatory affairs John Berry said labour shortages had forced the company to change its schedule at the Laverton abattoir.
“There may be changes around the days (available) due to people challenges, which is endemic in the industry,” he said. “It is a real challenge not just in our industry but in all sectors. That does have impact on our kill program.”
Farmers, who did not want to be named, said they were also worried about potential price changes that could make their business models untenable.
Mr Berry said the DVP service-kill price structure had been reviewed before the JBS takeover, with no changes made so far.
“Like all businesses, there will be ongoing review of price based on costs,” he said.
“We are seeing labour costs increase. We are seeing electricity and gas prices increase. The cost to operate continues to be a challenge for all meat processing businesses.”
Mr Berry said JBS was committed to serving all of Diamond Valley’s customers, regardless of business size.
“During the sales process we said we wanted to keep these customers and work with them,” he said. “JBS wants to grow the DVP business and will work with these people to get the best outcome where possible.
“It is a dedicated service-kill facility. We continue to service a whole range of customers, from many small service-kill customers to large retail customers.”
Diamond Valley’s parent company Rivalea Holdings was bought by Brazilian meat giant JBS in December as part of a $175m deal. Rivalea also owns piggeries across Victoria and NSW and a large processing site at Corowa.
Before the purchase was approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, critics including Daylesford pig farmer Tammi Jonas of Jonai Farms flagged concerns about limited competition in the pig processing sector.
Benalla Abattoir and Castle Estate at Koallah are the two other Victorian abattoirs that offer kill services for small-scale pig producers.
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