Border Beef ......How did it go!

[kato]

Thanks for the info. I guess we need to make more noise if the only ones giving him direction are 30 cow farmers with big fat paychecks. I believe I shall start doing just that.

[PureCountry]

Hey Gang, wish I could have made it to the shin-dig. Good on the BB Group for their efforts.

We spent last weekend with some great people - Ed & Sherry Horvath of Sunshine Organic Farm @ Warburg, AB. We were part of a group of folks doing a straw-bale builder's workshop, putting up a straw bale barn for Ed & Sherry.

Anyway, Ed & Sherry have their own meat processing facility on-farm. They did it over the past few years, steadily improving and upgrading as funds allowed. They direct market at Farmer's Markets in Edmonton and area, and are as busy as a puppy with 2 peters, as you may well imagine.

Seeing them in action really made me think about the possibility of us and some friends/neighbours doing the same thing here. Then on Wednesday, our local abbattoir called and said they had a cancellation and could squeeze in 2 head for us if we could get them in before 8am Thursday morning. I got them in and was grateful for it, since we weren't scheduled to get any in until August 20th. I told the butcher if they have anymore cancellations to book us in for any and all free spots. He told me they are now booking into mid-September.

Where I'm going with this is, our little beef jerky thing is in it's fledgling stage. We're selling it in town at the golf course and trying other things also. If it really takes off, we're hooped. Our local abbattoir does all the processing, has the jerky recipe, but can't take my animals until mid-September!! A producer, or a producer group will always fight this unless they take matters into their own hands, and control the operation from pasture-plate.

I'm not saying I want to build a packing plant, just to even have a licensed processing facility would make a world of difference. Yes you're still depending on an abbatoir for the kill & chill, unless you build that too. Just me thinking out loud, and I'm glad everyone else is voicing their opinions also. I agree with Sean 100% that we need to take control. To me, that doesn't mean raising a ruckus at ABP meetings or storming the gates at Cargill. It means just damn well doing the things to build profit and sustainability into our own businesses, farms and ranches.

[grassfarmer]

Why don't you just book kill spaces ahead of time and cancel if needed? That's how we work with our processor and they are quite happy with the arrangement. They know they can always fill last minute spaces with guys who haven't booked ahead. I booked all our fall processing back in May - some for August and some for October. Now it's just a matter of juggling the cattle to be ready at the right times.

[perfecho]

Just as a side note, through the work we are doing through Economic Development and a Local Food Initiative, have had discussions on a mobile unit that would kill about 10 head a day right on the farm. The difference between this unit and the one the Province touted, would be that the halves or quarters would be put onto cooler trucks right away and not need to be chilled on the mobile slaughtering plant. The hanging meat could then be delivered to local shops etc., and have the ability to be temperature monitored, location monitored remotely.
What I find interesting in this idea, is that it could work in nicely with local retailers and butcher shops, (that are seemingly making a resurgence) but, the surprising (or not) part is the meat is supposedly much more tender due to being killed on farm. When you think about it, the normal system has the animals are under a lot of stress on killing day.....loaded, hauled, forced into a killing line that they can obviously smell and don't like. T
At first, I thought this idea had little merit, due to processing constraints, etc, but I now think there could be a real opportunity for a small group of growers wanting to supply a certain area or market niche. If anything matures on this, will post details.

[perfecho]

The above post could have gone elsewhere, but just a comment back to PC.
On the Border Beef topic, what is the next step....any positive comments form AB gov reps?

[Sawbones]

There were about 14 attendees from various government departments of both Alberta and Saskatchewan and they were there to listen and interact with producers. That was very encouraging. The producers of Border Beef are still planning on working together although there are no plans to put together finances for another packing plant in the near future.