Western Producer: New Alta. slaughter rules welcomed
Doug Ferguson – The provincial government plans to allow consumers to buy animals directly from livestock producers for on-farm slaughter.
New provincial rules that allow Albertans to buy live animals directly from local producers for slaughter on farms will help ease a processing bottleneck made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, said a beef producer.
“I think this new regulation creates a great opportunity for farmers,” said Blake Hall of Prairie Gold Pastured Meats near Red Deer. “As consumers become more interested in local food and farmers become more interested in direct marketing their animals, I think that this regulation helps marry those two nicely.”
He spoke at a recent webinar on the new rules hosted by Mountain View County north of Calgary. It was held in partnership with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, along with the Young Agrarians, Grey Wooded Forage Association and Alberta Farm Animal Care.