Small-scale livestock farmers in Australia are facing mounting pressure as abattoirs across the country increasingly foreclose access to their services as they vertically integrate and/or are bought up by large multinationals who would rather export industrial meat than feed Australian communities.
Hardwicks, Victoria’s largest and most central abattoir, announced the end of small service kills effective 14 December, giving farmers just two weeks’ notice in the lead up to Christmas. Farmers’ and butchers’ livelihoods are threatened, animals will have to be transported much longer distances, refrigerated transport for the greater distances will have to be found or developed at great cost, and access to local, pasture-raised meat will decline sharply, giving way to more feedlot and industrial meat produced by corporations.
After AFSA urgently responded to this with a request to extend the closure by one full year, Hardwicks has given smallholders a small extension until 1 February 2025. This is not enough time for us to find alternatives–we need to act now!
As far as we know, the only remaining abattoirs accepting small lots for service kills are Gathercoles in Wangaratta and Carrum Downs, and Radfords in Warrigal, and they are unlikely to be able to absorb all of the affected farmers even if the farmers are able to adjust their logistics for the greater travel distances.
The situation in Victoria reflects what is happening in every state across Australia. Farmers in southwestern WA will lose access to their last option (DBC) in February 2025, and in NSW, farmers lost access to three abattoirs in just the last few months (Cowra, Canowindra, and Booyong).
While many of our current actions focus on Victoria, we are rolling out a national campaign across all states in January 2025 to save small-scale livestock farming in Australia.
What can you do right now?
- Victorian residents: sign our e-petition to put urgent reforms in front of the Victorian Parliament. The petition closes on 20 January 2025, so please be sure to share the link widely with your networks once you’ve signed it!
- Small-scale livestock farmers across Australia: take our national survey on securing the future of small-scale livestock farming. This will help AFSA in its advocacy efforts in the coming weeks and months.
- Become an AFSA member. We are a farmer and First Peoples-led, volunteer-run organisation, and we rely solely on membership to keep our work to transform the food system going.
Got any other ideas? Send us an email! We’re keen to hear suggestions on how we strengthen this campaign through allyship, media, content and anything else that help us win urgent reforms needed to secure the future of small-scale livestock farming in Australia.
UPDATE 24 DECEMBER 2024
Merry Christmas from our friends at Agriculture Victoria, who released a very informative e-guide to help farming communities navigate the approvals required to develop on-farm, small-scale or mobile abattoirs. AFSA has worked with the Planning Advisory Services team for several years now to help them better understand the needs of small-scale farmers. The e-guide is a testament to their commitment to see farmers whose focus is on feeding local communities not only survive, but to thrive, to the benefit of everyone. You can access the guide on the Ag Vic website.
AFSA is working to ensure others states also move to support our members before it is too late.
