Heather Latter
FORT FRANCES—After years of working towards building an abattoir to service area producers, the Rainy River District Regional Abattoir Inc. has announced construction of the building is nearing completion and the plant is expected to be operational early in 2010.
“It’s exciting to finally see it coming together,” said RRDRAI president Steve Loshaw.
“It’s going to be good for the community and I think it’ll have a lot of spin-offs once it gets going,” he enthused.
The $2-million, 3,600 sq. ft. “kill and chill” plant, located at 26 Byng St. in Emo, has the capacity for 20 animals a day.
It is anticipated to run two days a week, slaughtering a total of 40 animals.
The contractor, Coldbox Builders from Vaughan, Ont., is expected to have the construction of the building complete in the next few weeks.
Loshaw said equipment then needs to be brought in.
While an official start date has not yet been determined, Loshaw said they plan to hold an opening ceremony.
Loshaw noted local producers will utilize the abattoir to promote farm gate sales while the RRDRAI board also is hoping local retailers will start to provide local products.
“Some of the local producers are doing this through Dryden, so we should pick up that business,” he remarked.
“And we’re also hoping more people will jump on board because it’s local and start using it,” he added, saying having the abattoir in the district will alleviate transportation costs.
The board also recently hired Margaret Irvine as general manager to maintain plant operations of the new facility.
The plant will be provincially-inspected and operate as a not-for-profit business. It will handle beef, pork, bison, elk, sheep, and goats.
Funding assistance for the project has come from FedNor, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp., and the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association, but the RRDRAI board still is looking for public support to help reduce the mortgage.
There has been a slight increase in membership, with a current total of 111 members and about 900 animal commitments (which cost $100 per head to a ceiling of $2,000).
Producers who are members get a discount while those who have made animal commitments receive an additional discount, as well as priority booking.
Those interested still can become members for a $500 fee.
(Fort Frances Times)
