Would you like to learn how to tan sheep skins? A workshop is being planned for later this year. Please use the Contact Us form to let us know if you would like to receive details of this event, which will be a fund raiser for the abattoir.
If you do not have your own sheepskins we will be able to supply them from the abattoir for a small handling fee.
Three new volunteers have joined the board of the Salt Spring Abattoir Society, making a total of 8 directors. Vera Robinson of Hope Hill Farm and Brian Brett of Willowpond Farm have both been abattoir customers with lambs and poultry. The third is Murray Coates, who helped the Livestock Producers design and build the abattoir.
The five directors from the first year are continuing their involvement. They are Jean Brouard (chair), Deb Fedorak (treasurer), Roland Cook (secretary), Margaret Thomson (Agricultural Alliance representative) and Mark Hughes.
Several other farmers have expressed interest in joining the board at some future date. The next AGM must be held within 6 months of the abattoir’s year end, which means before the end of June 2014. To find out more about what is involved in serving as a director please enquire through Contact Us.
The abattoir will close for floor repairs from Monday 23rd September, and will reopen on Wednesday October 9th for poultry. Lamb slaughter will resume on October 16th.
The first Abattoir Society AGM will be held on Monday September 9th at the Lions Hall, Bonnet Avenue, 7-9 pm..
The meeting is open to members, membership will be available on the date, and interested members of the public are also welcome.
The chicken prices now in effect have rarely brought in enough revenue to cover labour, and need to be adjusted to make sure that they cover labour, as well as supplies and overhead, or chicken processing cannot continue. The Abattoir Society directors have reviewed the poultry operation very thoroughly and have concluded that a discount for quantity is not justified in a plant that does everything by hand and does not have to stop work every time a new batch is started, as the larger operators do.
We also see very clearly that larger birds take more time. The time taken is directly proportional to the weight of the birds, so the price should reflect that. Two months ago we floated the idea of a surcharge of $2 for chickens over a certain weight. In discussing this with clients and with other small poultry abattoirs we came to the conclusion that the average chicken weight for the batch should be used instead of the number of chickens over a certain weight, which is more work to record and a possible source of errors and disputes. Our scales can print out the total batch weight and we know exactly how many chickens were processed, so the average weight is one simple calculation.
Therefore on August 15th the new fee scale will be in effect:
This abattoir was built with tax dollars and donations from farmers and supporters of local food production. It is owned by this community and operated by a volunteer board that employs island workers. It cannot survive in business if it continues to make a loss, so these changes have to be made. As the volume of work increases (and it has already surpassed the estimates used in the planning stages) and beef and pork are added, the financial picture should become rosier. Until that happens we ask for your understanding and co-operation in making this project a success.
The abattoir is not quite finished and needs money to complete the work required to safely process pigs and cattle. We have a Salt Spring solution, called ShareSpring which is a new crowdfunding platform. This is intended to attract the attention of a wider public who would be willing to support this community’s efforts to increase food production in a sustainable way.
The campaign to “Save Our Farms” will strike a chord with all who care about animal welfare and this island’s economic health. The abattoir has already simplified meat production logistics and is providing job opportunities for local workers.
It can do far more once it is fully operational, (now handling sheep and poultry only) and with your help and the help of your social media contacts we can get there. Please pass this message on to your friends. If we can reach 5000 people who will donate $10 each that’s $50,000!
Click Here for the ShareSpring ‘Save Our Farms’ donations page
We did some experiments with waterfowl last November with rather mixed results. The ducks were of unknown age and some were very difficult to pluck, so we were not happy with the results. We are trying again this coming week with Pekin ducks, bred primarily for meat, and they will be at the ideal processing age. If this goes well and we are happy with the quality we will announce that on the website and will start processing young meat ducks. The price will be based on how long it takes to process them, and is likely to be more than for chickens.
Starting the week of June 17th poultry processing will change to Thursday from Friday.
The booking clerk will contact all customers with Friday bookings to notify them of this change. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
On April 16th the Lieutenant Governor, her Honour, the Honorable Judith Guichon, began her tour of Salt Spring with a visit to the abattoir. Her three guides, Jean Brouard, Anne Macey and Margaret Thomson have been deeply involved in the planning of the facility, and lately also in its operation. The Lieutenant Governor is very familiar with BC’s meat industry, through her involvement in cattle ranching in the Interior, and understands the need for concerted community effort to address the difficulties caused by the changes in the meat regulations.
Many people have now visited the abattoir, with the largest numbers on April 12th for the Open House. The grounds were decorated, courtesy of Foxglove Farm and Garden, and coffee and cookies were served. All the Abattoir Society directors and the chair of the Agricultural Alliance were there to explain how the equipment is used and why it had to be built the way it is. The high cost of construction is easier to understand if you see all the “extras” that were required, and the amount of labour that was involved in meeting all the sometimes conflicting requirements of all the agencies involved.
Your donations are still needed. Click HERE for details.
There will be an open house at the abattoir from 1-5 pm Friday April 12th.
Please come and visit us at 1447B Fulford Ganges Rd – Come and see how your donations have been spent and what is still left to do!
