Hardwicks latest to opt out of service 'kills' for organic stock

Hardwicks, Kyneton, is one of a handful of Victorian works with a certification to slaughter and process organic stock.

The company was bought by Kilcoy Global Foods, in July, 2021, and takes organic sheep and cattle from as far away as southern NSW, South Australia and a large part of Victoria.

Producers say they've been told by Hardwicks it will no longer take small "private" organic kills; the company has been contacted for comment.

Southern Cross Certified chief executive Ben Copeman said the decision would reduce the amount of certified organic red meat, coming onto the market, hitting small producers hard.

"If they can't get a kill at a certified organic abattoir, then the chain of custody is broken, which means the butcher that takes that meat cannot claim it to be organic," he said.

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"That will have a fairly large impact on the amount of meat going into many of the farmers markets, around there, as well as the Sydney and Melbourne mainstream markets."

Producers said it would deny producers are valuable premium, with one western Victorian producer saying prices for organic lambs were double that for conventional animals.

Organics for Rural Australia director Jane McClure aggregates drafts of organic sheep and cattle from properties in southern NSW, South Australia and Victoria. She was a big user of Hardwicks.

"I am snookered," she said.

"Hardwicks Kilcoy Global are strategically positioned for our certified organic growers and fit well into the animal husbandry category, as the animals are not stressed because the distances to travel are within reason.

"I am in discussions with the organic certificatiers looking for solutions so we can continue to service the organic grower. the organic butcher shops and most importantly the consumer."

She said she switched to the Kyneton works, after several abattoirs in SA and NSW also stopped processing small drafts of organic stock.

"It's a trend, it's a trend the industry itself has to address," Ms McClure.

"We have extremely dedicated growers and we can't afford to lose them."

Radfords, Warragul, was one of the only abattoirs that was still taking organic stock in Victoria, she said, but there were animal welfare issues in getting sheep and cattle there.

"Hardwicks have been amazing, they have been incredible, and I don't want to break that relationship with the new owners - we have to work together."

The company had retained its organic certification, allowing for future exports, she said.

"In the meantime, we have to look after these domestic markets, I am not sure the way we can do that."

Ms McClure said with conventional lamb prices sitting around $2.50 cents a kilogram for mutton and $4.50c/kg for top lambs.

"No-one can believe the organic growers are getting what they are getting - they are getting around $7.80c/kg and the shops are paying it," she said.

She said she believed Hardwicks had decided not to continue with the small organic kills, due to the paperwork.

"That's why the others have given up," she said.

Mr Copeman said there was a growing interest from potential organic beef and sheep producers.

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"This month we have had nearly 30 new applications and I would say 20 of those have never been certified before, so that market is definitely growing," he said.

He said many abattoirs were opting for certification to the United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP), allowing access to the US market.

"That means they can't take stock into that abattoir that is not certified to the same standard - they can be certified to the Australian national standard, but if stock go into a NOP certified abattoir, they have to be kept separate from the NOP certified carcasses," he said.

"No abattoir can afford to do that, because they can't have two chillers tied up with a handful of bodies.

"We are seeing the problem right across Australia, at the moment, with the availability of certified slaughterhouses for small numbers of organic cattle and sheep."

He said he could understand where the abattoirs were coming from -" to close the whole line down, to do two or three head of cattle is just not worthwhile."

Willaura organic prime lamb producer Andrew Liesfield this week took a load of 50 sheep to the Kyneton works and said he was told it was the last that would be processed as organic stock.

"From what I understand, they are still doing what they call 'service' kills, they are just not doing organic service kills - which doesn't make any sense at all," he said.

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He runs a flock of 1500 Perendale (dual-purpose) breeding ewes, Hampshire Down-cross sheep and an organic oat cropping business.

"I usually take down from 40-50 lambs a week, which is between 500-600 through each season," he said.

The latest draft of lambs was going to the Dubai market, he said.

He said transport was a big issue, although Castle Estate, Camperdown, and Radfords still offered a certified organic service

But distance led to animal welfare concerns.

"It certainly affects the viability of the operation," he said.

"Radfords is too far away, it's an animal welfare thing" he said.

Castle didn't have organic certified vehicles, to transport organic lamb into the Melbourne market, he said.

This story originally appeared in Stock and Land.

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