Food Sovereignty & Security Advocacy

In recent editions we have highlighted the growing challenge to food sovereignty and security arising from increasingly diminished access to abattoirs for small scale producers.  This is of particular relevance to the Society as British White cattle are eminently suited to the smaller scale paddock to plate demographic.

It is especially close to home for two of our members, Larder Mouse Farm and Brooklands Freerange Farms, who operate successful paddock to plate operations in Victoria showcasing British White beef. So, it was no surprise that Lucy Olson, who is also President of the Woodend branch of CWA Victoria Inc., saw an opportunity to harness the power of the Country Women’s Association in Victoria to call for change.  This is an extract of Lucy’s presentation to the state conference at Shepparton in June where the motion received overwhelming support.

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. Six abattoirs nationally closed their doors to small volume kills from smaller producers in the last four months of 2024 alone, including Hardwicks in Central VIC.

The recent report from the Inquiry into Securing the Victorian Food Supply identified this issue as a mounting barrier to food security in Victoria. The Parliamentary Inquiry made the following recommendation to address this issue:

 Recommendation 27: That Agriculture Victoria work with the Victorian Farmers Federation, PrimeSafe and commercial abattoirs to negotiate small livestock producers’ ongoing access to kill facilities in the short-to-medium term. The Victorian Government amend the Meat Industry Act 1993 (Vic) to specifically provide for and define micro-abattoirs and the Victorian Planning Provisions to introduce micro-abattoirs (including mobile micro-abattoirs) as a Section 1 use in the Farming Zone, Rural Activity Zone, Green Wedge Zone and the Green Wedge A Zone. The Victorian Government support small scale livestock producers to establish micro-abattoirs (including mobile micro-abattoirs) in communities which can demonstrate a need for this critical shared agricultural infrastructure.

Small-scale farming is fundamental to the maintenance of country life across Victoria. The State is renowned for the production of high-quality food.

The abattoir closures lead to a decrease in animal welfare as stock are transported longer distances for slaughter, processed through higher stress environments and mixed with livestock from other properties with differing management practices.

The lack of competition and alternative options leads to higher processing and transportation costs, the impact of which is causing many small businesses to close. These businesses cannot utilise on-farm slaughter processes, or those systems used for game meat, due to the current Victorian legislation.

Many of these small-scale livestock businesses are female run in a vastly male dominated industry. The loss of these small-scale livestock farms will impact food security in regional areas and the livelihoods of hundreds of rural families.

Most of us in this room today will know a business, family member or friend who would be impacted by this reduction in service. Be that through a direct impact to their business or through an inability to continue to purchase the high quality, locally produced food they have in the past.

With farmers doing it tough in times of drought every penny counts and a reduction in red tape to facilitate alternative slaughter options would be a great step in the right direction to support these businesses and our food security across the state of Victoria. Therefore, I urge you all to support a motion “that the Country Women’s Association of Victoria Inc. calls upon the Victorian State Government to urgently legislate to ensure that small livestock producers in Victoria have ongoing access to kill facilities, specifically by removing barriers to allow for mobile and micro-abattoirs to offer services to these producers.”

Well done, Lucy.  This is not just an issue in Victoria. Abattoir closures or restrictive service limitations have occurred in Western Australia and New South Wales and will likely continue as industry consolidation and concentration continues. The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance is doing a lot of work in this space and has more information on this and other issues facing smaller producers.