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Nonprofit's report cites lack of slaughterhouses in New York
By Andrew Amelinckx
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
By Andrew Amelinckx
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
A recent report by Washington D.C. based consumer watchdog group Food and Water Watch finds a lack of slaughterhouses in New York state is affecting small farmers and blames federal policies that, it says, favors larger operations.
The demand for locally produced meat and poultry has grown dramatically over the last five years, due in part, to the farm to table movement with its focus on where and how far the food on your plate is coming from. New York farmers have been stepping up production to meet demand, but without enough United States Department of Agriculture certified slaughterhouses in the state they have had to either travel long distances or wait and possibly lose money.
Ilene Stark, one of the owners of Grazin’ Angus Acres in Ghent, said they drive their cattle two hours to E and L Meats in Richfield Springs, costing them about $100 per trip in expenses.
“It’s definitely an issue,” she said of a lack of USDA certified slaughterhouses in Columbia County.
The farm started raising grass-fed Black Angus cattle in 2004 after the owners became interested in food, ecology and health issues and how the three intertwine.
She said they chose to work with E and L because they slaughter a limited amount of cattle at a time and the meat is aged and butchered on premises so it doesn’t have to travel unnecessarily. “It’s an issue of traceability,” she said.
There are two USDA certified slaughterhouses in Columbia County, Van Wie in Stockport and Hilltown Pork, Inc.
According to Robert Beckwith, co-owner of Hilltown Pork with his brother Richard, said that demand had definitely outstripped availability. They slaughter around 15,000 animals for their own company, he said, and gave a ballpark estimate of around 20,000 animals for local farmers.
He said that if someone new wanted to have animals slaughtered by them they would probably have to wait until after the New Year.
Beckwith said that even with the current economy consumers still wanted local meat. “People want to know where their meat is coming from,” he said. “There aren’t enough USDA facilities to meet the demand.”
Other farmers agree.
“So far we haven’t seen any decline,” said Peter Davies of Turkana Farms in Germantown, which specializes in heritage breed animals.
He said that the area was in “desperate need” of another facility for large animals and another for fowl.
Davies raises a variety of animals, including turkeys, ducks, geese, sheep and cattle and therefore uses a number of facilities. He sometimes has to travel a good distance to slaughterhouses costing both time and money.
Another issue is whether he can schedule a time for slaughter. If he can’t get his animals in at their market size he will be spending more money feeding them.
Other issues Davies has had to deal with include lost animals—including a 1,200 pound heifer that disappeared after being sent to a slaughter facility in Vermont—and the possibility that the animals he sends off may not be the same he’s getting back from the facility.
“There are lots of reasons for having a real local slaughterhouse where you know the people,” he said.
The reasons there aren’t many local USDA certified slaughter facilities is mainly a twofold issue, according to Felicia Nestor, who authored the report. The first is the consolidation of the industry over a number of years. According to the report around five percent of the large meat establishments account for around 95 percent of the meat sold in the U.S.
The other big issue, she said, was the federal regulations slaughterhouses must follow. According to Nestor, the Federal Safety and Inspection Service adopted a new inspection approach called the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point in 1996. The system, which forces facilities to justify their practices with scientific evidence, had been used by large operations, which could afford the expensive techniques and equipment, she said.
“The small plants don’t really need it,” she said of the approach.
But Nestor remains optimistic about the future of small operations, despite all the hurdles put before them.
She said with the ongoing interest of consumers and restaurants in locally produced meat it would eventually pay off for the industry.
“I’m a bit encouraged,” she said.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
A recent report by Washington D.C. based consumer watchdog group Food and Water Watch finds a lack of slaughterhouses in New York state is affecting small farmers and blames federal policies that, it says, favors larger operations.
The demand for locally produced meat and poultry has grown dramatically over the last five years, due in part, to the farm to table movement with its focus on where and how far the food on your plate is coming from. New York farmers have been stepping up production to meet demand, but without enough United States Department of Agriculture certified slaughterhouses in the state they have had to either travel long distances or wait and possibly lose money.
Ilene Stark, one of the owners of Grazin’ Angus Acres in Ghent, said they drive their cattle two hours to E and L Meats in Richfield Springs, costing them about $100 per trip in expenses.
“It’s definitely an issue,” she said of a lack of USDA certified slaughterhouses in Columbia County.
The farm started raising grass-fed Black Angus cattle in 2004 after the owners became interested in food, ecology and health issues and how the three intertwine.
She said they chose to work with E and L because they slaughter a limited amount of cattle at a time and the meat is aged and butchered on premises so it doesn’t have to travel unnecessarily. “It’s an issue of traceability,” she said.
There are two USDA certified slaughterhouses in Columbia County, Van Wie in Stockport and Hilltown Pork, Inc.
According to Robert Beckwith, co-owner of Hilltown Pork with his brother Richard, said that demand had definitely outstripped availability. They slaughter around 15,000 animals for their own company, he said, and gave a ballpark estimate of around 20,000 animals for local farmers.
He said that if someone new wanted to have animals slaughtered by them they would probably have to wait until after the New Year.
Beckwith said that even with the current economy consumers still wanted local meat. “People want to know where their meat is coming from,” he said. “There aren’t enough USDA facilities to meet the demand.”
Other farmers agree.
“So far we haven’t seen any decline,” said Peter Davies of Turkana Farms in Germantown, which specializes in heritage breed animals.
He said that the area was in “desperate need” of another facility for large animals and another for fowl.
Davies raises a variety of animals, including turkeys, ducks, geese, sheep and cattle and therefore uses a number of facilities. He sometimes has to travel a good distance to slaughterhouses costing both time and money.
Another issue is whether he can schedule a time for slaughter. If he can’t get his animals in at their market size he will be spending more money feeding them.
Other issues Davies has had to deal with include lost animals—including a 1,200 pound heifer that disappeared after being sent to a slaughter facility in Vermont—and the possibility that the animals he sends off may not be the same he’s getting back from the facility.
“There are lots of reasons for having a real local slaughterhouse where you know the people,” he said.
The reasons there aren’t many local USDA certified slaughter facilities is mainly a twofold issue, according to Felicia Nestor, who authored the report. The first is the consolidation of the industry over a number of years. According to the report around five percent of the large meat establishments account for around 95 percent of the meat sold in the U.S.
The other big issue, she said, was the federal regulations slaughterhouses must follow. According to Nestor, the Federal Safety and Inspection Service adopted a new inspection approach called the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point in 1996. The system, which forces facilities to justify their practices with scientific evidence, had been used by large operations, which could afford the expensive techniques and equipment, she said.
“The small plants don’t really need it,” she said of the approach.
But Nestor remains optimistic about the future of small operations, despite all the hurdles put before them.
She said with the ongoing interest of consumers and restaurants in locally produced meat it would eventually pay off for the industry.
“I’m a bit encouraged,” she said.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com
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