TREHERNE, Man. – A local farmer telephoned John Jenkinson to ask how many weeks he would have to wait to have a bull slaughtered at Jenkinson’s locker plant.
“How about tomorrow afternoon,” he told the surprised cattle producer.
It’s a situation that frustrates Jenkinson. He is able to kill and process more cattle than are being brought to him, but most producers are assuming his and every other abattoir is full for months to come.
Jenkinson, who operates Jenkinson’s Meat Market and Locker Plant, doesn’t need more cattle for his own processing, but he is able to do custom slaughter and cutting of animals for producers who are able to either store the meat or have found someone to sell it for them.
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“We’re trying to do everything we can to stretch the limit and do what we have to do,” said Jenkinson, whose plant slaughters cattle and pigs.
“People don’t realize there are some places that can or will do more.”
Manitoba Cattle Producers Association president Betty Green said most Manitoba abattoirs have no room for any more cattle for the next few months. The plants could kill, cut and process more animals, but they wouldn’t be able to sell everything they produce.
“Their capacity is controlled by how much product they can market,” said Green, who has had trouble moving her own cull cows.
“A couple of months ago we called everyone, and the waiting lists were long, months long.”
Having an abattoir kill, cut and process an animal is an option that may help a few producers with a few animals, but it also is part of the business most producers have never been in.
“The farmer has to be able to market the products and that’s not something (farmers) do a lot of, although I’m sure there’s been more private marketing to freezers this year than in any recent year,” said Green.
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Since May 20, when it was announced that bovine spongiform encephalopathy had been discovered in an Alberta cow, marketing cattle has been difficult. The American border was immediately shut, pushing many Manitoba cattle toward the slaughter plants in Alberta. But those plants cut production drastically, making it difficult for the regular Alberta and Saskatchewan customers to get animals in and shutting out most Manitoba cattle.
Producers quickly turned to local abattoirs in the hopes of getting some of their cattle picked up, but most abattoirs were soon booked months in advance.
Manitoba Agriculture meat market analyst Janet Honey said she was surprised to hear that any provincial locker plant had excess slaughter capacity, but Jenkinson’s situation proves that farmers shouldn’t assume there is no way to get an animal into an abattoir.
“I guess you’ll have to keep phoning around to see if something opens up,” said Honey.
“If you can get it slaughtered locally it’s better than having to send it to Alberta or Ontario.”
Green said there is no easy way to discover whether all the abattoirs are booked up other than regularly calling them.
“I think (Jenkinson’s) situation is an anomaly, but it’s good to hear that there are some that could process more,” said Green.
