Why we need small abattoirs

Smallholders in Suffolk are having a particularly difficult time finding suitable slaughter services because of the continuing closure of small abattoirs. Here, in the west of the county, we are encountering these difficulties ourselves. Just a few weeks ago a small abattoir just over the border in Norfolk has closed its slaughter operations although remains open as a butcher. Unfortunately, this is not a local issue but a national trend and one of concern.

The loss of abattoir businesses has been striking. In 1930 there were over 30,000 abattoirs in the UK. By 2017 this had fallen to 249 (not all of which can be counted as ‘small abattoirs’). 

The Sustainable Food Trust (SFT) has been instrumental in drawing the crisis in small abattoirs to Government attention. They highlight the essential importance the role small abattoirs play:-


“Small abattoirs are the unsung linchpins of our local food systems. Without them, we could not have local, traceable meat production. Small-scale, high welfare farming, rearing of rare breeds, organic or pasture fed and the success of local food businesses, including direct sales like meat boxes and farm shops, all depend on the services of small, local abattoirs.”

                                          (Oxford Real Farming Conference, 2018)


Despite their importance, the UK’s smallest abattoirs are currently facing an unprecedented crisis. With high running costs and a food and meat industry increasingly orientated towards centralised, industrial food systems, many of them are losing money and struggling to remain viable.

There are now only 56 small ‘red meat’ abattoirs left in the UK, with a third having closed between 2007 and 2017 according to the SFT.

One reason for the crisis is due to a collapse in the value of hides and skins. There has also been a significant decline in cattle numbers. At the same time, waste disposal costs for most small abattoirs have increased significantly due to consolidation in the rendering industry and higher minimum charges for small quantities. Small abattoirs find it increasingly difficult to compete economically with large meat processing plants.

Small abattoirs are consequently at a major disadvantage compared with the very large slaughter-houses which process animals for multiple retailers. Large slaughterhouses often receive significant amounts of public money in grants and also benefit from economies of scale, but the animals they slaughter generally travel many hundreds of miles at the cost of their welfare and the environment. In contrast, consignments to small abattoirs are typically far fewer in number and in small trailers travelling much shorter distances in their aim of serving local customers or simply supplying the household. The benefits of small abattoirs for animal welfare are being lost.

The concerns about abattoir closures has been picked up by the All Party Parliamentary Committee on Animal Welfare which commenced an investigation and consultation into the matter in March 2019. They were due to report at the end of last year but this has been delayed because of the General Election. It is not yet clear how the regulatory framework for animal welfare, including for abattoirs, following the UK’s departure from the EU is going to impact future policy and provision.

In the meantime, we are now looking for yet another abattoir where we can take our livestock when the time comes.

  

Ruse was a fine example of a small abattoir with whom we had great trust in them in the way they handled livestock and in their butchery knowledge and skills. Alas, they closed their abattoir a couple of years ago and just recently their famed butcher shop too after 160 years presence in Long Melford.