AIRDRIE, Alta. – No matter which way the meat is diced or sliced, the biggest challenge for the ostrich business is finding someone to buy it.
A special meeting in this town north of Calgary confirmed what ostrich, emu and rhea farmers already know. Their biggest problem is marketing. Their other problem is finding a reliable plant to process their birds.
Ray Schultz, secretary treasurer of the Alberta Ostrich Association, said almost all calls to his office are from people wanting to know where they can take their birds, whether they will get paid and where can they sell the meat.
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Some producers got burned this year when a processor defaulted and they weren’t paid for their birds. Schultz said they should insist processors are bonded similar to a program that exists for cattle dealers.
Vern Hafsco, of Viking, Alta., has formed Diversified Animal Management and is trying to develop a federally approved mobile slaughter facility.
He and a group of investors are looking at building a docking station in central Alberta for this facility and as more money is gathered there could ultimately be four stations around the province.
The docking stations cost about $1 million each and provide corrals, electricity, water, corridors and office space.
The mobile unit, which also carries a price tag of $1 million, could kill about 250 birds per day and would be available to kill other species as well, said Hafsco.
Another group has talked of building a plant at Rimbey, in central Alberta, to process bison, organic beef and ratites.
Jay Chapman, of the Canadian Ostrich Association, said the problem of processing and marketing is nationwide.
The industry would like to ship the bird meat across provincial borders.
“If it’s OK for us to eat in Alberta, it should be all right to eat in Saskatchewan,” said Chapman.
In addition, it is hard to get a true picture of the industry and markets because people guard their information.
Agriculture Canada sent out a bird survey in 1996 to get a bird count but only 297 farmers responded.
“This does not give a true measure of who and what we are,” said Chapman.
It’s also harder for associations to help members because they are strapped for cash as memberships drop off.
The emu and rhea industries are in the same boat.
Jean Ham, a member of the Canadian Emu Association, said the government should help the ratite industry as it does other livestock.
Those who have cracked the meat market know they have a rough road to travel.
Everyone is fighting for the same primary market of high-end restaurants, said Judy Barnes, of Edmonton. She operates Canadian Commercial Ostrich Products, which sells commercial birds.
It’s a limited market because people eat less than a pound of alternative meat per year, she said.
Kim French, of Transcontinental Ostrich Products, deals with slaughter birds. He said fragmentation in the industry is a major problem with too many small operators trying to undercut one another.
His company has slaughtered less than 1,000 birds and found many of the claims about the product were exaggerated. Meat yield is generally less than 50 percent and carcass sizes vary.
Processors complained that the size of birds varies too much as birds range from about 150 to 300 pounds. Processors prefer birds about 250 pounds and between 14 and 16 months of age. Older birds produce poorer meat.
“We can’t risk putting any poor quality meat on the market,” French said.
The birds yield about 40 percent steaks, 26 percent filets and 34 percent trim which goes for hamburger. Steaks are the hardest to move.
“We’ve got to put it on the plate at a reasonable price,” said French.
