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2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2016 Oregon slaughter facilities face challenges Slaughter, processing skills tough to replace, expert says assistance of Custom Meat or Vic Hastings,” he said. The problems encountered by the Custom Meat Co. pro- vide an example of the pres- sures faced by Oregon’s slaughter and meat processing facilities. By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Replacements diffi cult As the owners of such companies retire or die, fi nd- ing replacements is diffi cult — both because their skills are rare and because fewer people are willing to do such work, said Lauren Gwin, an Oregon State University pro- fessor and director of the Niche Meat Processor Assis- tance Network. “It is a brutal job to go out and kill things all day long,” Gwin said. “It’s not the kind of thing younger people are interested in doing.” Since 2000, the number of mobile and stationary custom slaughter facilities in Oregon has dropped more than 30 per- cent, from 93 to 63, accord- ing to data from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Such operations kill animals for their owners, rather than for meat resale. In that 15 years, the num- ber of U.S. Department of Agriculture -inspected slaugh- terhouses — which can pro- cess livestock for the whole- sale meat market — has fallen 25 percent, from 16 to 12. After roughly four decades in operation, the Custom Meat Co. of Eugene shut down in June . While employees and cli- ents still hope the mobile cus- tom slaughter and meat pro- cessing company will be bought and re-opened, they acknowledge the business fell into disarray after owner Vic- tor Hastings succumbed to cancer in January. Hastings didn’t leave a will and key licenses for the facil- ity lapsed, contributing to its closure, said Shannon Hughes, the company’s manager. Unless an investor takes over the company, Keith Coo- per, who raises hogs at nearby Sweetbriar Farms, is worried about traveling much greater distances to process carcasses. The facility and its workers were instrumental in helping Cooper prepare meat for his customers, often when time was in short supply. “I probably couldn’t have existed or grown my business to the extent I had without the Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Apart from the physical hardship of killing, bleed- ing out and skinning live- stock, the job is often fi nan- cially challenging as well, said Gwin. An owner of a mobile slaughter truck, for exam- ple, must pay for its fuel and upkeep as well as disposing of offal and maintaining the appropriate licenses, she said. “It’s hard to make it pay,” Gwin said. Changes in the overall beef industry have also affected slaughter facilities, said Jerry Haun, owner of Haun’s Meat and Sausage and executive secretary of the Northwest Meat Processors Association. FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 69 55 56 Partly sunny; breezy in the afternoon Partly cloudy FRIDAY 67 51 SATURDAY 67 55 Mostly cloudy 66 54 Partly sunny with a shower in spots Some sun Cow-calf producers often prefer to sell cattle in large lots instead of selling indi- vidual animals at auction to local landowners, he said. With fewer locals raising beef, the demand for local slaughter facilities decreased as well. As the price of cattle has weakened recently, though, more cow-calf producers are again willing to sell “oddball calves” to backyard farmers, Haun said. Farm-to-table beef Interest in organic, grass- fed and farm-to-table beef also indicates that the local slaugh- ter industry will remain via- ALMANAC REGIONAL WEATHER Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 56/69 Tillamook 51/66 Precipitation Monday ............................................ Trace Month to date ................................... 2.00" Normal month to date ....................... 2.38" Year to date .................................... 39.22" Normal year to date ........................ 35.99" Salem 54/85 Newport 51/64 Sunset tonight ........................... 9:11 p.m. Sunrise Wednesday .................... 5:27 a.m. Moonrise today ........................... 1:32 a.m. Moonset today ........................... 2:37 p.m. First July 4 Full July 11 Coos Bay 53/67 Last July 19 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 3:37 a.m. 3:20 p.m. Low 0.9 ft. 1.5 ft. City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC Ontario 66/100 Burns 53/91 Klamath Falls 52/90 Lakeview 53/90 Ashland 57/91 REGIONAL CITIES City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Hi 89 87 69 86 64 90 93 84 64 67 Today Lo 52 53 54 50 56 52 59 53 51 54 W s s s s pc s s pc pc pc Hi 90 87 69 86 64 90 92 83 64 66 Wed. Lo 53 51 55 50 56 53 59 51 51 53 W s s s s pc s s s pc pc City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 81 95 84 85 86 65 91 85 82 98 Today Lo 51 62 58 56 54 56 63 52 56 63 W s s s s pc pc s s s s Hi 80 96 83 85 85 66 91 85 81 100 Wed. Lo 50 62 58 56 53 56 64 49 56 62 W pc s s s s pc s s s s TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES Today Hi Lo 86 71 80 65 70 54 90 61 81 61 73 53 87 72 72 54 86 74 80 56 84 63 110 84 92 65 96 74 89 76 91 67 92 77 80 69 92 68 82 68 88 64 100 75 73 55 81 58 88 70 Baker 52/90 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 Tonight's Sky: Emerging in from the east, Delphinus the Dolphin is the smallest constellation of the night sky. High 6.5 ft. 8.8 ft. La Grande 55/92 Roseburg 56/85 Brookings 55/74 July 26 John Day 55/94 Bend 53/87 Medford 59/92 UNDER THE SKY Time 9:34 a.m. 9:44 p.m. Prineville 55/91 Lebanon 52/86 Eugene 50/86 SUN AND MOON New Pendleton 62/96 The Dalles 64/92 Portland 58/83 W t c pc t pc c t c pc pc pc pc s pc t pc t t t t s pc s s t Wed. Hi Lo 92 71 79 66 79 59 87 61 80 64 81 56 92 72 77 57 87 76 78 56 83 64 107 86 89 63 89 68 90 77 85 61 88 76 83 68 93 69 85 68 83 65 98 69 72 55 80 58 86 69 The Daily Astorian money to rebuild Mitch’s Witches, a Halloween tradi- tion for over a decade. The public is welcome. Food and beverage purchases, as well as raffl e items from many down- town businesses, will help raise funds for the project. tion could create “major tur- moil at marine terminals” and “signifi cantly impede” U.S. exports. In May, he said requiring exporters to report the com- bined container weight would cause congestion, backups and delays of exports through ports. A 2014-2015 slowdown at West Coast ports, caused by a labor dispute, cost farmers, manufacturers and retailers across the country hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Friedmann could not be reached for comment but in a news release said there’s still work to be done, particularly for containers arriving at ter- minals by on-dock rail without going through gates. He thanked an AgTC com- mittee and others for working on the issue and said it demon- strates the “role AgTC can and must continue to perform for the U.S. export community.” Community members and businesses can also sponsor a witch for $150, which includes the witch frame, hat, and cape to dec- orate. For information, go to www.facebook.com/ astoriadowntown LOTTERIES June 22, 2016 HAYNES, Hanna, 90, of Asto- ria, died in Astoria. Hughes-Ran- som Mortuary & Crematory in Astoria is in charge of the arrange- ments. Go to www.hughes-ran- som.com to share memories and sign the guest book. June 23, 2016 DIEHM, Daniel, 58, of Asto- ria, died in Astoria. Hughes-Ran- som Mortuary & Crematory in Astoria is in charge of the arrange- ments. Go to www.hughes-ran- som.com to share memories and sign the guest book. PUBLIC MEETINGS PACKAGE DEALS APPLIANCE AND HOME FURNISHINGS 529 SE MARLIN, WARRENTON 503-861-0929 O VER Mattresses, Furniture 3 A 0 RS TSOP C LA U Y C O NT adopt similar approaches,” the carrier association stated in a press release. The carrier association said earlier this month it received confi rmation from the U.S. Coast Guard that the approach complies with the Interna- tional Maritime Association’s Safety of Life at Sea July 1 requirement that all export- ers certify and submit com- bined cargo-container weight to steamship lines and terminal operators before containers are loaded onto vessels. Exporters have been responsible for accurately reporting cargo weight but no one had been reporting com- bined container weight , Peter Friedmann, AgTC executive director in Washington, D.C., has said. Friedmann warned in Feb- ruary that an amendment to international standard from the London-based Interna- tional Maritime Associa- DEATH APPLIANCE YE this increase to growing enthu- siasm among farmers and consumers for pasture-raised poultry. A state-licensed facil- ity can process and sell up to 20,000 birds a year without USDA inspection. This exemption was included federal poultry inspection law because law- makers were aiming to reg- ulate the slaughter industry rather than fl ocks raised by farmers, she said. However, efforts to enact similar exemptions for other livestock haven’t gained traction, Gwin said. “Con- gress doesn’t want to be seen as rolling back food safety laws.” Mitch’s Witches need new britches The Astoria Downtown Historic District Associa- tion is teaming up with Fort George Brewery and Public House during Benefi t Night, from 4:30 to 9 tonight, to raise Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. IN The possibility of slow- downs again plaguing West Coast seaports was averted when ocean carriers agreed this month to accept combined cargo-container weights from marine terminals instead of requiring them from exporters. The Ocean Carrier Equip- ment Management Associa- tion, a U.S.-based association of 19 major ocean carriers, announced its decision at the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s annual meeting in Long Beach . “OCEMA applauds the efforts of ports and marine terminal operators that have announced they will provide VGM (Verifi ed Gross Mass or combined cargo-container weight) weighing services on behalf of U.S. exporters and encourages ports and ter- minals across the country to Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W pc pc s t c s t pc pc pc t pc pc s t s t pc s pc pc pc s s pc ble, he said. “They’re not just catch-words, it’s reality. It’s something we’ve been doing for decades but its now the hip thing.” Not all types of meat facil- ities in Oregon are on the decline. The number of custom meat processors who don’t kill ani- mals but cut up carcasses has stabilized at above 80 opera- tions in recent years, though it’s still down from roughly 100 operations in the early 2000s, according to state data. Poultry and rabbit slaugh- ter facilities, meanwhile have more than doubled since 2000, from seven to 19 plants. Gwin of OSU attributes West Coast maritime weigh-in rule dispute appears to be resolved By DAN WHEAT Capital Press Astoria through Monday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 67°/54° Normal high/low ........................... 65°/51° Record high ............................ 87° in 1995 Record low ............................. 42° in 1965 LEFT: Shannon Hughes, manager of the Cus- tom Meat Co. in Eugene, speaks about the company’s closure on June 17. Oregon slaugh- ter facilities are under pressure as owners re- tire or die while replacements are hard to find. & More! HOURS OPEN: MON-FRI 8-6 • SATURDAY 9-5 • SUNDAY 10-4 We Service What We Sell TUESDAY Clatsop Care Health District Board, noon, Clatsop Retirement Village, 947 Olney Ave. Astoria Library Board, 5:30 p.m., Astoria Public Library Flag Room, 450 10th St. Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. Astoria Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. WEDNESDAY Knappa School Board, 4:30 p.m., 41535 Old U.S. Highway 30. THURSDAY Sunset Empire Transportation District Board, 9 a.m., supple- mental budget hearing, budget hearing and executive session, Astoria Transit Center Conference Room, 900 Marine Drive. Clatsop County Recreational Lands Planning and Advisory Committee, 1 to 3 p.m., fourth fl oor, 800 Exchange St. The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. 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