Nicholas Donaldson
The district abattoir still may be in trouble but the situation slowly is getting better, with plans in place to both boost the plant’s operations and alleviate its debt.
That was the message at the Rainy River District Regional Abattoir’s annual general meeting last Wednesday at the Barwick community centre.
The not-for-profit corporation in Emo currently has 150 paid memberships, with around 100 other customers.
But high hydro bills, taxes, a mortgage, and other operating expenses put its long-term debt at around $890,000, board president Bill Darby reported at the meeting.
Darby noted that cutting total expenses by around $45,000, and receiving just over $20,000 in donations, has helped them this year but added the board cannot rely on donations to keep the abattoir going.
He then outlined five options from the board to reduce or eliminate the abattoir’s deficit:
•adding processing and business activities to the plant to subsidize kill cost;
•raising slaughter fees to align with the cost of production;
•developing new alliances with other abattoirs and buyers;
•selling the abattoir; or
•closing the abattoir.
Darby explained if the board sold the abattoir, some of its debt still would need to paid, which would put it in an awkward situation with FedNor.
He also said closing the abattoir and just walking away is an option but it’s not one the board wants to pursue.
“The board has been focusing on the top three there and talking a lot about how we might do things,” Darby remarked.
The recommended strategy put forth by Darby, and eventually voted for by members, was to gradually add processing, increase some fees, and pursue new business alliances.
The plan, however, still will take quite a bit of figuring out.
To add processing, the board possibly will have to borrow up to $110,000–something it believes it can do, although it doesn’t want to.
“It may be as simple as buying a band-saw and a meat grinder, and putting them in the carcass cooler,” said Darby.
“Then we could be doing breakdown with bagging and boxing, and then perhaps some ground beef,” he explained.
The question was raised of where this meat would be marketed, with Darby responding by saying that is where the alliances would come in.
He noted a few of the directors have heard of some interest for business, and have been attending workshops and conferences to meet people and see where the potential is.
“It’s never easy but there is potential,” Darby remarked.
One business has said it would take certain cuts of meat but they want it vacuum-packed.
But Darby was hesitant about this, admitting a vacuum-packing machine is expensive.
Another business has said it would take finished beef, but the abattoir would need to figure out transportation and be sure it could get enough finished beef in the area to make transporting it worthwhile.
That particular plan simply could consist of filling heavy cardboard boxes with primal cuts made to the buyer’s specifications and shipping those out on skids.
“We can do that in the cooler, but we have to pencil out the details and get enough production once we start,” Darby said.
“Once you start, you have to be able to supply it,” he warned.
Aside from business partnerships, the directors also will have to look into raising fees on certain parts of the business, like shrink-wrapping poultry, while trying to stay away from raising its slaughter fees for beef.
This is because a beef day is more profitable than a poultry day for the abattoir, noted Darby, adding the board wants to make sure it continues to put cattle through the plant by keeping the fees reasonable.
Abattoir members voted to have the board move forward with the strategy, and look into adding processing and business partnerships, in hopes it will bring more revenue to the abattoir and help reduce some of its debt.
Elections also took place during last Wednesday’s meeting to replace Darby, Louis Bujold, and Herb Govier, who all had reached the end of their terms as directors.
Delton Martin, Jennifer Wall, and David Donaldson were elected to join James Gibson, Steve Loshaw, Colin Van Beek, Kim Jo Bliss, Jason Teeple, and Gary Esselink on the board.
