May 2020 Newsletter

The 2020 poultry season starts this week! The plucker has had a major refit thanks to Darryl Windsor & Nicholas Courtier and we are ready to go.

Some important key dates:

  • Limited availability for Lamb bookings – May 27th & June 4th-  Lots of space after that.
  • Limited availability for Poultry Bookings – May 28th , July 14 & July 28.
  • 2020 Annual General Meeting May 26th

Please look at the on-line calendar and book well in advance to ensure you get the dates you want.

Latest news:

2020 Annual General Meeting

The 2020 AGM is scheduled for May 26th. It will be held remotely by ZOOM.   All users and supporters of the abattoir are welcome to attend – member or not. Please RSVP to annemacey@shaw.ca if you would like to attend. An agenda package and the link to connect will be sent closer to the date.  Hear how we’ve responded to the suggestions that came out of the producer meeting in February and how operations have been impacted by COVID 19.  One way to show your support is to become a member of the Society. Membership is $20 (benefits now included!).

Members Listing Page

Over the last month we have been receiving numerous calls at the abattoir asking where people can purchase local meat.   To that end, starting this month, we are going to be including a membership page on the abattoir website listing all members, contact information and animal types raised.

Other ways to reach potential new customers are:

Processing Date Changes

Starting June 1st, the processing dates will change to Tuesdays for poultry and Thursday for red meat.   This change will not only support the meat inspectors schedule but will also allow us to more easily manage poultry bookings during the busy period before thanksgiving and Christmas.

Summer Job Placement

 Although we don’t yet have confirmation that our application has been approved we are hoping to hire a young person between 15-30 years of age under the Canada Summer Jobs Program.  If you know of anyone who might be interested in working at the abattoir, please tell them to email us for more information:  ssiabattoir@gmail.com

Reminders:

COVID-19

The Abattoir is an essential service and will continue to operate. We will give as much notice as possible if bookings must be changed or cancelled as a result of staff shortages or lack of availability of meat inspectors.   And if you are sick, please arrange for someone else to bring (and pickup) your animals or birds to the abattoir.

In case of staff shortages, if you know of anyone, preferably with experience, who would be willing to work the occasional poultry day or to assist with cut & wrap, please contact:  ssiabattoir@gmail.com

Waste Management

If you require the use of the abattoir’s waste management containers, please pick them up by noon the following day at the latest and return them rinsed within 24hrs.

Poultry Cut and Wrap Processing Options

Producers that are interested in having their birds broken down please contact the poultry booking coordinator at ssiabattoir@gmail.com.  

Country Grocer Lambs

Sequoia is coordinating lamb sales to Country Grocer.  Please contact him directly (sequoia.lesosky@gmail.com or 250 538 7742) if you would like to sell your lambs through him to Country Grocer.