LAC LA BICHE - Amendments to provincial regulation that now allow local farmers to slaughter and sell livestock on their farms without provincial inspections still has some red tape to cut when it comes to cutting and selling red meat.
In 2020 the Government of Alberta amended the Meat Inspection Regulation rules by allowing farmers to sell livestock—slaughtered on their land—directly to consumers who purchased the whole animal. The amendments allowed producers to obtain an On-Farm Slaughter Operation (OFSO) license to perform the service without provincial inspections—creating an opportunity to remove the red tape for abattoirs by one-third, according to provincial documents.
But more than a year into the new rules, Lac La Biche Agricultural Fieldman Jacob Marfo says while the changes sounded promising, farmers continue to have a beef... with some of the rules.
Last December, the province did move further on slaughter operation plans, and amended the regulations, now allowing an individual owner to share larger animals that weigh more than 500 pounds with up to three additional owners — but animals under 500 pounds can still only be sold to one owner.
Additionally, any scraps or byproducts leftover from the un-inspected meat slaughter are allowed to be sold or gifted for bait and or trapping use only.
Marfo planned to introduce a resolution at last weekend's Provincial Agricultural Service Board (ASB) conference to
“The request we want to put to the province—so that the meat inspection regulation is amended ... to allow producers to sell up to two portions for hogs, sheep and goats,” he told Lakeland This week earlier in the month.
Moving forward, Marfo says the chanes would continue to build a rural industry that has the potential to add to the agricultural sector and a “major economic driver of Alberta’s economy.”
This item was updated on January 30 to include the new provisions in the OFSO licence for beef animals over 500 pounds
