Eileen Stein Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 As I recall, Tea mentioned utilizing mobile slaughter facilities in the northwest. Apparently we now have the first Modular Harvest System here in the east. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 A very interesting read. In WV (and previously in NYS), we have seen several smaller slaughterhouses closed for one reason or another, and it becomes more and more difficult for folks to find quality, inspected, local slaughter options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 That is a very good article. And is encouraging too. I use our mobile slaughter unit almost every time they can fit me in. Right now for the spring lamb for resturants. I am also trying to encourage other farmers on how to tap into the markets. So many of them have given up. But with this, perhaps it is a step in the right direction for local, sustainible meat. On a side note- Gunny got squashed againest the side of the rig by some cull dorset ewes and is laid up. She was squeezing in beside them to get the out of the rig when someone opened a door and they spooked into her. I was p###ed So Sweep had his first time there. I was very happy with him. He was calm and worked well moving sheep out of the rig into the holding pens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Poor Gunny - best wishes for an easy recovery. And good for the Broom-boy, to step in and do his part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Thanks! You know on another note. Cap won't work at all there. He is absolutely horrified. He even hides when I cook 'sheepdogs' Our own homemade mutton dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 Tea Does your mobile unit come down to my neck of the woods? Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 It could! All you need is to have enough for them to do. A facility with a concrete pad and holding pens- which could be the temporary panels. The unit is going to be in Port Orchard and in Rochester, by July. E-mail me and I'll send you their contact info huiha@centurytel.net I also need to talk to you about cattle trials! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 FSIS is currently accepting comments on a draft inspection standard for mobile slaughter units. Personally, having run the numbers, I would think that outside of some very specific circumstances the added expense of putting a slaughterhouse on wheels is pretty hard to justify. Tea how does your unit deal with red water? Does the farm have to dispose of it, or does the unit have a tight tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 The farm deals with some when the animal is killed. In the unit the run off is completely contained. I know that what we did to get the mobile unit going was to have charter members buy into it. We then get a discount on the price per head. We had a company build the thing. But Island county built their own which I think worked well. At the Farmers Chef thing in Seattle I talked to a bunch of people on how they were handling this end of the operation. And the mobile unit is more expensive. And as you know the profit margin is slim as it is. The funny thing is this one little unit had 5 usda inspectors there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 Bill, in our MSU, red water is disposed of by the farmer. For some people, that means catching the blood from the bleeding out amimals and putting a water trough under the MSU's drain to catch the run off. For others (like myself) it means that the grass grows really well where I slaughter. In other words, the water drains out of the MSU and onto the ground. Yes, MSU's are expensive. Ours is 10 yrs old. Maintenance is expensive. Ours was "technically" built & owned by a local Land Trust. Our Co-Op "leases" it from them for a very small yearly fee. The Land Trust had access to better funding (and organization) than a co-op of small farmers did. The Land Trust now has pretty much nothing to do with our MSU. For folks like Tea & I, who would have to pay exorbitant fees to take a trailer full of livestock off-island (different islands, same ferry system), and then to bring it back empty, the MSU is a lifesaver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 Tea, is Island County's mobile unit USDA-inspected? We cover Whidbey, and we keep having folks from there apply, and a number of them a royal PITA's... I wonder why they'd bother with us if Island county had it's own MSU, but the USDA-inspection could be the kicker. ETA: I guess we do Camano, too, which would be all of Island County... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 Yes it is USDA And there is only one other non-mobile slaughter this side of the Cascades. See you at Sue's! Should I bring goat cream cheese? You bring brownies! I Hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Ben, You'd run into major problems letting red water run onto the ground here in New England. Even New Hampshire, which is pretty lax in its environmental and health regulations, would shut down such an operation and probably fine both the landowner and the MSU operator. It would be considered a willful discharge of raw sewage. Composting might be an acceptable alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Tea, what day will you be at the trial? I will be there Fri-Monday.... Goat cheese....my mouth is watering....I have hard black cherry and pink lemonade Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 what day will the cherry pie be running? I mean coming? I got farmers Market on Sat..... Shearing on Sunday. Don't know If I can make it in the afternoons....I will try tho! I will be there on monday with the cheese!!!!! See ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 what day will the cherry pie be running? I mean coming? I got farmers Market on Sat..... Shearing on Sunday. Don't know If I can make it in the afternoons....I will try tho! I will be there on monday with the cheese!!!!! See ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Billadeau Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 Some farmers cool to idea of mobile slaughterhouse Hagerstown, MD WASHINGTON COUNTY — U.S. Department of Agriculture officials pitched the idea of a mobile slaughterhouse to the agricultural community Thursday, but at least two local cattle farmers think the issue of cooling space needs to be addressed for a mobile unit to be of real benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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