COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2019


On-farm slaughter a key skill for producers


Producers have a pact to care for animals in life, at death


by PETER MITHAM


VERNON – Discussions of access to slaughter capacity and the need for trained butchers and meat-cutters is a live issue in BC, but the skills are especially important for small-scale producers just starting out. Whether they’re focused on local customers or aiming to grow into regional players, the knowledge is a fundamental element of their relationship with the animals. “I really look at it as an


intergenerational bargain that we’re making with these species to provide them with a good life and a good death in exchange for being able to use the products that we get from them,” says Tristan Banwell of Spray Creek Ranch in Lillooet. “I would prefer to be in control of that process all the way through as part of my relationship with that animal.” Rebecca Kneen of Left


Fields Farm in Sorrento agrees. She raises sheep and pigs. “The pact that we have with them is that we care for them,” she says. “It’s our responsibility not just to take care of them when they’re alive, but to be sure that we’re respecting the gift that they’re giving us in the way that we’re


killing them.” But the rules in BC don’t


always make it easy for farmers to kill their own animals. Some municipalities don’t allow home slaughter of backyard flocks; licences for D and E-class facilities have been revoked when A and B- class facilities open. The larger, inspected facilities aim to boost options for growers but the small facilities are often closer to home for some farmers and also take the pressure off the large slaughterhouses. “I was doing all my own on- farm slaughter and doing it for other people, particularly around poultry,” says Corey Brown, who farms in Cawston. “I had my licence taken away because they opened a slaughterhouse nearby, about half an hour away.” The three growers –


Banwell, Kneen and Brown – discussed the importance and challenges of on-farm slaughter as part of a panel at this year’s annual meeting of the Certified Organic Associations of BC in Vernon. What they all agreed on was the importance of knowing how to slaughter animals – not just because you want to, but because you may need to, especially in the


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On the move


Cattle from Ogilvie Stock Ranch in Knutsford were heading home for fall grazing in September. KARI LYNN HOFFMAN / OGILVIE STOCK RANCH PHOTO


case of poultry. “These are peasant skills, homestead economy,” says Banwell. “It’s possible to slaughter animals ethically and proficiently, and even butcher them with very few tools – definitely on your back porch and even your kitchen, for personal consumption.” But getting the right


training is not so easy. Training is available at Olds


College in Alberta, but Banwell learned from others. He’s hoping a training centre will be set up in Williams Lake, but in the meantime the local option is learning to do by


doing. “You have one chance to get it right, to learn how to do it and do it properly. That’s pretty intimidating and can be extraordinarily difficult,” says Kneen, who grew up at a time


• BEEF • VEAL • BISON • LAMB • GOAT • DEER


when animals were either shot or knocked out with a mallet and bled. “It took me a really long time to be able to get myself to the point of


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