Operations Information A-Z
Welcome to the Farmersville Community Abattoir! Please read the information provided on this page thoroughly so that you can have a better understanding of our operational limitations and requirements:
This facility is proudly owned and operated by Sarah and Chad Hunt of Pakenham, ON. As beef farmers, we have a thorough understanding of how important it is to have local, high-quality processing capacity with accessibility to farmers. Because as we know, farmers feed families, and their surrounding local communities. We look forward to working with you and believe your experience with us will have added value if you have an opportunity to read the included information about how we operate.
We are a Provincially inspected abattoir. What this means is that we are licensed with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, (OMAFRA) to process, cut, and wrap domestically raised farm animals that are destined to stay within the Province of Ontario.
Topics included on this page are:
Bookings
Cancellation Policy
Cutting Instructions
Processing Times
Delivery & Dropoff
Inedibles
Hang Time
Processing Fees
Cutting and Wrapping Options
Separating Orders
Freezing
Pickups
Multiple Pickups
Payments
Respectful Workplace
Bookings:
Every great abattoir relationship starts with a booking for processing. We are licensed to accept domestic farm animals such as mature beef, lamb/sheep, goats, and pigs only. We are unable to process poultry, rabbits, domestic deer, elk, or bison. We also do not process veal calves. In addition, we do not accept seasonal wild game for cutting and wrapping. We are not a Halal facility and do not participate in religiously based slaughter methods.
It’s a good idea to book your livestock well in advance to receive your optimal date for processing. For pigs, it is a good idea to request dates when you receive your piglets, especially if you’re looking for Fall availability. Please note that for the safety of our staff and the welfare of the animals, we cannot process mature bulls or beef over 1,800 lbs of live weight. We have a 1-ton hoist, and heavy beef is too hard on our equipment and rail system. For the safety of our staff, we cannot process pigs over 400 lbs of live weight. Failure to disclose this information at the time of booking or confirming the space the week before will result in having to turn your animals away on the scheduled processing date.
To book spaces or discuss availability, please contact Sarah at 613-924-0400 or info@farmersvilleabattoir.com. We currently do not require a deposit. However, if there has been a previous history of either late cancellations or no-shows, a deposit may be required.
Cancellation Policy:
Two weeks’ notice is required for cancellations. Cancellations made after confirming the booking the week before or no-show will be assessed at the full processing fee.
Cutting Instructions:
Completed cutting instructions are to be handed in by phone or email in advance of the booking date, or at the time of animal drop-off. We will remind you of this when we call to schedule a drop-off time for processing day too. Our preferred cutting instructions are posted in the ‘Cutting Instructions’ link above, and there are also hard copies of this document available at our facility. If our office needs to contact you for cutting instructions after the animal(s) have been processed, a $25 Administration fee will be applied to your invoice. If cutting instructions do not arrive before it’s time to cut and wrap your animal(s), we will make every effort to contact you. But if we cannot, you will receive standard butcher choice cuts.
Processing Times:
We process on Wednesdays only, each week. Lambs/sheep, goats, and pigs can be delivered either the day before (Tuesday) between 2:30 PM and 4:30 PM. (These spaces are available and reserved on a first-come basis.) Or you may drop off first thing Wednesday morning between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM. Please note that any animals dropped off on Tuesday are done so at the sole discretion and risk of the producer. Our facility is not staffed overnight. While your animals will be secured in a pen and left with access to water and bedding, our operation will not be held responsible for any injuries or death of any animals that occur while unattended overnight.
Beef cannot be dropped off the night before. Beef can be dramatic and try to jump the pens. Hypothetically, if your beef gets a leg caught in a gate overnight and goes cast, we have a really big problem the next morning. So we just won’t take the chance. Pigs, lambs, and goats are much easier to contain. Pen spaces for beef will be staggered throughout the day (typically) between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Times may vary from week to week depending on the volume of species being processed. We will do our best to schedule your drop-off at a mutually beneficial time. However, our barn is not very big, and we believe that your livestock should be in a pen either by itself or in the small group that arrived together. It causes unnecessary stress to the animals to have to be put in pens with other unfamiliar animals, even temporarily. Sometimes they try and fight when they haven’t met before. For the safety of your livestock and our staff, it is important to us that the stress level of the animals in our care is kept to a minimum at all times.
Beef that is under 30 months of age will be scheduled in the earlier part of the drop-off window, and beef over 30 months of age will be scheduled in the later part of the drop-off window. If you don’t know the age of your beef, that’s perfectly OK too. We’ll just aim for the middle of the drop-off window and do the best we can to guess.
There is a financial reason and strategy for this. We are not a composting facility, thankfully. (Too many bad smells and wild critters going that route. I think our wonderful neighbors are grateful for this too.) We are at the mercy of Sanimax to pick up our rendering each week. As soon as we process a beef that’s over 30 months old (or as soon as that 3rd adult tooth has broken the gum, regardless of actual age), the beef is considered over 30 months. Please note: If you have an official birth certificate and registration document (not just a record of birth), and send this document with the beef and it’s received before the processing occurs, we can provide this to the Food Safety Inspector on duty that day as proof of age.) If this documentation is received after processing, it’s too late.
Ultimately, what the SRM (Specified Risk Material - AKA Mad Cow) protocol means is that every piece of raw material that touches the slaughter floor from here on out for the rest of the day is to be handled as SRM - even if it’s from a young beef, and needs to be placed in a special bin destined for the medical waste facility. Sanimax sends two rendering trucks to our facility every week. One for the non-SRM rendering (considered “clean”), and one SRM truck that goes straight to the medical waste landfill. I’m sure you can appreciate the cost difference between the two options. So we strategically plan our day to reduce the amount of SRM waste as much as possible. If you’ve ever received an invoice from Sanimax for a farm pickup of deadstock, I’m sure you can appreciate what this looks like on a larger weekly scale.
We recognize that a staggered dropoff can be inconvenient. However, doing it this way and scheduling trailers for specific windows of time also reduces the time it takes to wait for barn space to become available. We cannot unload you if we don’t have space, and waiting in the parking lot is also a nuisance.
Please do not tell us that you’re bringing in an under-30-month-old beef just to obtain an earlier drop-off time that better suits your schedule only to arrive with a beef that is over 30 months of age. This is problematic and occupies a pen that’s needed for other animals who are supposed to be there first. And if we go ahead and unload your overage beef, and it needs to be processed immediately due to poor or dangerous behavior, our day just got more expensive for rendering than it needed to be.
*Please take your animals off their feed the night before processing.* Water is perfectly OK. This is a pre-op environment, and when bellies are too full, the risk of contamination during the disemboweling process is far greater. Stomach contents are heavy, it creates unnecessary manure for disposal, and it’s a lot more work than it needs to be.
Delivery and Drop off:
If you have cutting instructions with you, please stop at the front store to drop them off and let the Market Store staff know that you’ve arrived. Otherwise, proceed to the unloading dock and either call us at 613-924-0400 or please wait patiently. We are expecting you for a prescheduled time, so don't worry, we’re watching for you. Please do not pound on the barn door with your fist and yell to announce your arrival. We may be moving animals from pen to pen, and this can be quite upsetting for them, which makes it incredibly dangerous for our staff.
CFIA requires a transportation document for any livestock being moved from one location to another, regardless of distance or duration. PigTrace has a form of its own, as does Ontario Beef, and Ontario Sheep. Copies of these forms can be found under the cutting instructions link.
Please also note that it is the responsibility of the transport driver to ensure the proper transfer of care happens safely for each animal entering our facility. If the animal does not make it into our care, we cannot process it. Please follow instructions from our staff carefully, and do not open any trailer or crate door at any time without ensuring that the livestock cannot escape. Trailers come in all shapes and sizes, and we need to make sure you’re backing in tight enough and have closed in all possible escape gaps before the door or crate gets opened. Failing to do so is both irresponsible and dangerous for not just the animals on board but our staff as well. The responsibility of the animal(s) rests with the transport driver until they’re safely in our care.
Inedibles:
Please note that we have a very limited ability, and a small window of time to salvage inedible materials. If you want to save any beef, sheep/lamb or goat hides, this request must be made well in advance of processing or they will not be saved. Please note that we are fundamentally a meat processing facility and not hide/tanning professionals. While we will slow down and take extra precautions to harvest your hide with care, we cannot guarantee it will be perfect. But we will certainly do our best.
Beef heads can be saved, but we must obtain permission from OMAFRA for a trophy head, so requesting in advance is required. Please note that if you want to save a beef head from an over 30-month beef, you MUST obtain a permit from CFIA before the end of the processing day. Their general number is 1-800-442-2342. This is an easy permit to obtain and can be done over the phone. The permit number provided by CFIA must be given to the Food Safety Inspector through the Plant Operator (Sarah) before the end of the processing day or the head must go to SRM rendering. (If you just want to keep horns only, no permit is required. But those horns must be either waited for or picked up promptly.)
For pigs, we are not a facility that uses a scalding tank. We skin the pigs instead. Therefore, saving external items such as tails, ears, and feet for human consumption is not allowed per OMAFRA. Should you want to save any of these for non-human consumption, you would have to wait for them to be processed and take the hide home with you for further harvesting. Make sure you make arrangements for this well in advance.
Beef feet or intestines of any kind are not salvageable for human consumption. For tripe, you must wait for processing and take the entire stomach with you. (Don’t worry, we can remove the contents to make it a lighter lift.)
Any requested inedibles must be picked up by the end of the processing day on Wednesday, or at the very latest first thing on Thursday morning. We do not have a refrigerated space for inedibles overnight, so we’re at the mercy of the outdoor temperatures. Summertime makes things go stinky fast, and rodents get curious. As I’m sure you can appreciate, rodents would not be a welcome visitor to a food processing facility. To avoid this, any saved (not intended for human consumption) item, that has not been picked up within the required timeframe, will be sent to rendering.
Hang Time:
For pigs, sheep/lambs, and goats: If these animals are processed on Wednesday, they will typically be cut and wrapped 2 days later on the Friday of the same week, and be ready for pickup the following Monday. (This will always be officially confirmed, of course.) The meat does not require aging.
For beef: We do a 2-week standard hang time (give or take a day or two.) While we appreciate that there are widespread differences of opinion on exactly what amount of hang time is desirable for optimal flavor or tenderness, there is no scientific evidence that hanging beef beyond 10 days makes any difference. We see all different ages, sizes, and finishes on cattle in this industry. Ultimately, beef that has very little fat coverage doesn’t hold up in the cooler. It turns brown and gets dried out quickly resulting in high cutting loss, and the carcasses will start to take on a gamey flavor that you’re not going to enjoy either.
However, the main reason that a 2-week hang is just the right amount of time for our facility is that we run the risk of introducing mould into the cooler. If mouldy beef touches a wall when being moved, transfers to another carcass in error, or spores get into the air, we have a massive contamination problem. We currently have a really clean space, and a great working relationship with OMAFRA, so introducing a food safety issue on this scale would cause problems for everyone.
Please know that our Butchers are experts in their craft. Your beef is in exceptional hands, and your carcass will be given the time and attention it needs to be optimized to its fullest potential!
Processing Fees:
Current processing fee rates will always be posted on our website, just follow the link above. We have a Measurement Canada-certified scale on the processing floor so we will know the hanging/rail weight of your animal(s) shortly after processing. And since our fees are mostly based on rail weights, this measurement is the heartbeat of the whole system.
The weight is taken once the animal has been skinned and disemboweled, and the legs from the knees down have been removed. Lamb and/or pig heads may still be attached to the carcass and that will vary depending on the wishes of either the producer and/or the Food Safety Inspector if the head is in poor condition. Beef heads will always be removed.
For sheep/lambs/and goats, there is a flat rate which includes the processing and cut and wrap as long as the animal is under 60 lbs on the rail. If the animal is over 60 lbs, the processing rate, and cut and wrap fee will be applied independently. A rendering fee will apply to each animal. For sheep and lambs only, the current rate for the Ontario Sheep Marketing Fee will be applied as well.
For beef, the rate range depends on age and weight in $25 (and roughly 200-pound) increments. There’s a scale for under 30 months, and a scale for over 30 months.
From time to time we are asked to book in carcasses that are for slaughter-only, meaning that the intention for the cut and wrap process to be done elsewhere. While we appreciate that some customers wish to have their animals cut and wrapped elsewhere, priority for our services will be given to those individuals who are looking for in-house cutting and wrapping. If vacancy allows, we will book slaughter-only spaces. However, should someone contact us looking for our services which include cut and wrap, we will need to find an alternate date for the carryout booking. Slaughter fees are higher and are not posted for this service, so please inquire in advance. The carryout carcass may stay in our cooler for up to 6 days free of charge (for beef), but after that, there is a $10 per day fee. There will be age and weight-specific Sanimax rendering fees associated with this service, and an additional weight-based fee to break down/package and carry out your carcass.
Cutting and Wrapping Options:
Butcher paper is where it’s at! Effective, affordable, and eco-friendly! The basic cut and wrap include paper wrap and rubber stamp labeling with black ink. If you want to make things a little fancier, you can upgrade to paper wrap with custom labels for $0.35/lb. The labels would include your farm name, phone number, name of cut, weight, and price (which is optional.) It also includes details at the bottom stating that it was cut and wrapped by us. If you plan on retailing your product, you would need to upgrade to the labels for retail option at $0.45/lb which includes an additional legend sticker that has our plant license number for traceability purposes. The current cut and wrap prices are always up to date on our website.
We do have a vacuum-pack machine, but I always warn people about this option. The bags are expensive, and the wrapping process is slow because we’re at the mercy of the machine. The bags are also terrible for the environment. While we appreciate that your product can be seen through the packaging, this makes the product more attractive. But you’re forced into custom labels because rubber stamps don’t stick to plastic. So just make sure you keep that in mind when budgeting retail costs. In addition, the vacuum-pack bags are unforgiving when it comes to sharp pieces with bone-in cuts (which we try and protect with an additional layer of peach paper), but it doesn’t like getting handled. If you get a puncture you’ll lose your freshness seal. So just be extra careful when you handle the finished product.
Separating Orders:
We can separate the wrapped meat and organize it into separate orders for you. But there are limitations. For lambs/goats, or pigs, we can separate into two different sides, but not any smaller. The cutting instructions don’t have to be the same (except beef split sides.) For beef, we can either separate it into two sides or four separate split sides. For split sides, the cutting instructions must be the same for a whole side because the separation happens at the wrapping table just before it heads to the freezer.
Freezing:
After the cut-and-wrap process, your product is packed into milk crates, which are lined with clear plastic bags. (This makes life *much* easier at pickup as you’re able to load and go within minutes.) Each bag is tagged with your name, and/or customer name. Which side is which, etc. (if applicable), and placed immediately into the walk-in freezer for the flash-freeze process to start. Should you wish to pick up your product not frozen, please make arrangements well in advance so we can let you know exactly when it’ll be ready for home so that you can arrive as soon as it’s ready. Our freezing process is complimentary. We do not currently charge an additional fee for freezing. But a major restriction we have is the amount of space that’s available in the freezer. On the same day that your meat is cut and wrapped, you will be notified by our office and given a pickup date (typically 2 days in advance, if not more). Given the date of drop-off, and potential hanging time, you should have a rough idea of when to expect this call. But either way, we'll be in touch. Our freezer is small, and because of that, longer-term storage isn’t possible. It is incredibly important that you’re able to pick up your meat when it’s ready for home. The freezer space is meant to be revolving and not as storage. If customers delay the pickup process, we bottleneck and can’t continue to cut and wrap other customers’ meat. That gets expensive with a full staff who want to keep busy.
Pickups:
Customer pickups are prescheduled for either Mondays or Thursdays. For meat that is cut and wrapped on either a Monday or a Tuesday, the pickup will be on Thursday. For meat that is cut and wrapped on either Thursday or Friday, pickup will be on the following Monday. We are not open over the weekends to pick up meat. For any overdue account, an additional freezer fee of $10, per animal, per day will be applied to your invoice.
Multiple Pickups:
From time to time, our customers request that their retail customers pick up themselves. We have found this process to be confusing as quite often those consumers aren’t confident about exactly what they’re picking up, and mistakes have happened. In addition, this takes our staff away from their positions to take meat out of the freezer multiple times for the same order. As a result, multiple pickups will not be possible free of charge, and we will not be held liable for any mixups at pickup. Should you wish to have multiple pickups, there are a couple of options:
A) Have all of your retail customers meet you at the abattoir at the same time so your entire order be taken out of the freezer at the same time, divided up by you to your respective customers, and everyone can be on their way home in a short time.
B) If the above is not possible, alternative arrangements need to be made in advance. There will be an additional fee of $20 per pickup applied to your invoice if we are required to accommodate multiple pickups.
Payments:
We have many options available for your convenience! If you provide us with an email on your cut sheet, we will send you an electronic copy of the invoice, with all the details just as soon as it’s created! You can opt to use a secure credit card portal through the invoice (powered by Quickbooks). You can send an eTransfer to info@farmersvilleabattoir.com, or you can use cash/cheque/debit/credit in the front store at the Abattoir as well. Whatever method you prefer!
Respectful Workplace:
Just a friendly reminder that our staff are people too. Everyone has the right to work in a safe and respectful environment. A respectful workplace is one where all employees are treated fairly, difference is acknowledged and valued, communication is open and civil, and conflict is addressed early. We will not tolerate inappropriate behavior in any capacity. Anyone found to be disrespecting that boundary will be asked to find an alternative processing facility.
Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us! 613-924-0400, or info@farmersvilleabattoir.com