Nothern Ontario Region's abbatoirs not cutting it (06/05)

Several Northern Ontario livestock farmers say there is a need for federal abattoirs in the region.

As the border to the United States remains closed, the pressing need for slaughter capacity grows stronger, particularly in the North where only provincial abattoirs exist.

Put simply, the federal slaughterhouses are bigger, and the smaller operations can't keep up with the supply.

Livestock producers in Northern Ontario have been forced to become more resourceful and proactive in their battle to keep an ailing agricultural industry alive. All across Northern Ontario, local producers have put in applications to build abattoirs in their area, a reaction to the American border closures to all livestock and ruminants since May 2003.

Federal abattoirs are audited by Canada's trading partners internationally, so they must meet international requirements, according to Dr. Scott Barden, program specialist for red meat inspection in federal plants. Meat that has been prepared and inspected in a federal plant can be exported to other provinces and/or other countries.

An Ontario abattoir has its meat inspected by provincial inspectors and is shipped and sold within the province only. Even though slaughter plants are private businesses, they must adhere to provincial and/or federal regulations when planning and building a plant (blueprint approvals), as well as

provincial or federal inspections, depending on the type of abattoir.

Before the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) scare and sudden border closures, many farmers sent their animals to the U.S. for sale or slaughter. For northwestern municipalities such as Rainy River and Fort Frances, movement between the borders flowed freely and easily.

Trish Neilson, president of the Rainy River District Agriculture Federation, says they relied on processing plants in northern Minnesota, which had the capacity and flow for Canadian cattle.

"Now we must move to a new mind set that it is a different country," she says. "We are going to have to build our own capacity."

Rainy River district producers want to explore the Manitoba and U.S. markets that will still take boneless meat from cattle and ruminants under 30 months of age. But without a federal plant, their hands are tied.

Ron Bonnett, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and Neilson would like to see a national standard established in provincial abattoirs, so meat can be shipped inter-provincially. Neilson also believes it may make the meat more saleable to the larger grocery store chains, which only accept federally inspected meat.

Gaeten Proulx, owner and operator of Charolais Farm Packers meat processing plant in Warren, believes in supporting and building upon the local market. He has applied for a license to build a federal abattoir, but he also wants to develop a meat processing plant for wild game and start a school to teach the slaughtering, meat cutting and processing trade.

"It is a trade that hasn't been recognized in Canada," he says, yet he does not see enough expertise in the area to run the meat trade.

Gaeten has been in the business for 31 years, and says he cannot satisfy the demand for product and skilled labour. In 2001, he changed his plant to food processing from slaughtering and produces value-added product such as beef jerky, pepperettes, and kabassa, to name a few. He also supplies over 23 independent local stores throughout the province. With over $1 million in sales in 2003, he sees a steady incline in the local markets.

The government also subsidizes (between 80 to 90 per cent) full-time Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspectors, a requirement in federal abattoirs. According to the regulations, the producer is required to pay $9,855 each year for one inspector per inspection station.

As the United States maintains closed borders, Gaeten and other Northern Ontario producers expect to expand their markets and become more self-reliant.

"We have to dependent on ourselves," Gaeten says.

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