Small abattoir fund to open for applications this year

Small abattoirs will be able to apply for new funding later this year to improve productivity and enhance animal welfare, under new plans proposed by the government.

Industry representatives have welcomed the announcement of a consultation on the proposal, but warned the government needs to move much more quickly to stem the tide of abattoir closures.

See also: Analysis: How can the small abattoir sector be saved?

A 2021 survey by National Craft Butchers (NCB) showed almost 60% of abattoirs processing fewer than 1,000 livestock units a year would close within two to five years without intervention, leading farming minister Mark Spencer to promise support at the NFU Conference in February.

Accessibility

But John Mettrick, NCB legislative director and vice-chairman of the Abattoir Sector Group, told Farmers Weekly any grant would need to be accessible to small businesses.

“The feedback I’ve had from some abattoirs is they have previously gone for grant schemes, and they’ve been so complicated it has taken them weeks and weeks to get the application in,” he said.

“They’ve had to employ experts to come in who have taken a cut of the grant as well, so they’ve been put off. The grant needs to be something very simple that a business could put together themselves with the help of the accountant.”

Mr Mettrick also urged Defra to work with the devolved nations to ensure action is taken to protect the small abattoir network across the whole of the UK, not just England, and called for funding to be made available to help groups of farmers build new slaughterhouses where there is proven demand.

Christopher Price, chief executive of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, said it was “great to see recognition of the issue”, but pointed out the only concrete commitment was to a consultation, four months after the farming minister’s first promise of funding.

“The crisis in the abattoir network is deepening,” he said.

“Government needs to move much more quickly on this. We won’t have a sustainable livestock sector without a sustainable abattoir network.”