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
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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
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pc
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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.
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