Funding Helps Expand Ontario’s Federal Kill Capacity
By Clare Illingworth

In April, new funding was announced to assist Ontario abattoirs expand both domestic and Federally inspected slaughter capacity for sheep and lamb.

 This grant, handed down by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, comes after months of backlog in Ontario’s ruminant abattoirs since from May 2003. Since this time, it has become increasingly apparent that Ontario does not offer adequate Federally inspected processing for sheep and lamb in Ontario. Only Federally inspected meat adheres to regulations for export, leaving markets for Ontario sheep and lamb products severely limited.

 Funds were administered to three lamb and veal abattoirs, with the specific goal of increasing processing space, realizing new markets and servicing under-represented areas.

“This funding will give us greater access to expand our market potential,” says John Hemsted, 
OSMA Chair, and District 6 sheep producer. “Every increased opportunity to gain access to 
markets is a benefit to all producers in the province.”

 Luke DeSimone, Manager of Abingdon Meat Packers Ltd. in Caister Centre received a grant from the Mature Animal Abattoir Fund. He believes sheep producers will find better prices and have more confidence in their ability to market products with the Federal kill expansion.

 DeSimone is building a new 30,000 square-foot Federally inspected processing plant for lamb and veal. Funding from the provincial government is being used to purchase new equipment and move the project towards a mid-summer completion. Once fully operational, the plant will process approximately 20,000 animals, which DeSimone anticipates to fill with Ontario lamb. 

Before the U.S. border closure, approximately 3.5 percent of Ontario’s lamb output was Federally inspected. Since then, Ontario abattoirs have increased their processing volume to compensate for the backlog of animals. This led Federally inspected lamb numbers to slip below three percent, at a time when retailers were reacting to the increased media coverage of Bovine Spongioform Encephalopathy (BSE) by demanding Federally inspected meat.

St. Helen’s Meat Packers Ltd., a Federally inspected plant in Toronto will also receive funds to increase their output of Federally inspected lamb. Currently they process approximately 4,000 lamb and sheep annually. By improving time and cost efficiencies within the existing plant, St. Helen’s expects to significantly expand its Federal lambkill capacity.

 “The current cost of processing Federally inspected lamb is quite high,” says Marco Maturi, Director of Marketing at St. Helen’s Meat Packers Ltd. “We are revising the line to process lamb within a Federal capacity in a more efficient manner.”

 Funding for these projects was the result of extensive efforts by ruminant groups, who sent the message to politicians that help was needed. While most of the financial assistance handed down was put towards immediate assistance to farmers and targeted the cattle industry, this third stage of the Mature Animal Abattoir Fund is intended to benefit other segments of the ruminant livestock industry impacted by trade restrictions.

 “We are tremendously grateful that we received this funding,” says Hemsted. “It proves loud and clear that we are listened to, and we will continue to work in conjunction with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) to resolve our industry issues.”

 The Mature Animal Abattoir Fund is a $7 million grant intended to increase Ontario’s kill capacity and demand for Ontario cull animals as well as access new or replacement markets for meat from cull animals. In the third and final stage, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food is providing $800,000 towards increasing provincial slaughter capacity for the lamb and veal sectors.  

Under the terms of the Mature Animal Abattoir Fund contract, abattoirs must assist in implementation of BSE testing and surveillance, and provide information on the livestock they process. 

They must also repay 25 percent of the grant amount into an industry development fund in the next 5 years. The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association will manage this money.

 Proposals for this funding were submitted at the end of 2004. The three successful candidates were Abingdon Meat Packers Ltd., St. Helen’s Meat Packers Ltd. and Eric’s Claybelt Abattoir in Timiskaming – a cull cow slaughter facility.

 Once fully implemented, lamb and veal processing is estimated to increase 600 head per month. 

With the increase in Federally inspected lamb and sheep, Ontario will be able to export meat to other provinces and the world, namely the US market. Federally inspected plants must meet the trade requirements of importing countries, as well as standards for food safety and are under the supervision of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Provincially inspected plants, while equally as regulated, meet the standards of the Ontario Meat Inspection Act and can only be sold within Ontario.

 St. Helen’s Meat Packers Ltd. is hoping to expand its market for lamb within Ontario and Canada. They are exploring methods to further process the lamb to create case-ready products for retail shelves.  

“By having the products ready to serve and prepared into easily usable cuts, we will be able to increase consumption,” says Maturi. “We are trying to capture this untapped market.” 

DeSimone is also moving into case-ready product, dedicating building space to this initiative. Abingdon Meat Packers Ltd. is located 20 minutes from the Niagara border, making the US market a target for export. “If we get into the export market, I can see production doubling within five years,” says Luke. He adds that is of course if the border goes back to normal.

Until that time, the Ontario sheep and lamb industry and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food will continue to work together to provide sustainable solutions to processing capacity issues in Ontario.