MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands Meat Company Review of 2004 Season.

On Tuesday afternoon, Operations Manager, John Ferguson, treated Falkland Islands farmers in Stanley for the Annual ?Farmers Week' to an upbeat presentation on the operation of the Sand Bay Abattoir, during the 2003-4 austral summer season.

While the abattoir, which was built with public money and is the only facility of its kind in the Falkland Islands, was opened in September 2001, the 2003-2004 season was the first under the ownership and direction of the newly-formed Falkland Islands Meat Company (FIMCO), which draws its Board of Directors primarily from the farming community. The audience was told that the primary objectives of the Board during the season had been as follows: -

? To increase sheep production ? To increase product price ? To determine the daily killing capacity of the plant ? To stay within budget

That these targets had been achieved was largely due, Mr. Ferguson said, to pre-planning and the commitment of the management team and staff.

In its first years of operation, the Sand Bay abattoir encountered a number of problems and extra expense and was regarded as a potential white elephant by many in the Falklands. The purpose of Tuesday's meeting as Mr. Ferguson explained, however, was "not to look at what went wrong in 2003 but what went right this season" As he reviewed the figures of production and sales for the season with a keenly interested audience, it appeared that much had indeed gone right.

While the abattoir still operates at a loss and with the help of subsidies from the Falkland Island Government, farmers were informed that the numbers of sheep passing through it were increased by 53% in the 2003-2004 season, the quality of the carcasses produced much improved and the costs of the operation much reduced. Of equal importance to an audience of traditional wool producers looking to find alternative income streams was an increase of 18% in the average payments to farms, as a result of the sale of sheep and lambs for slaughter at the abattoir.

With considerable effort from a small team operating a non-mechanical production line the average daily kill had risen from 146 to 286 animals and a daily record of 416 sheep had been achieved. Summing up, Chairman of FIMCO, Mr. Tony Blake, said, that this allowed hope that in the future with dedication, further improvements and experience, an average of 400 sheep a day could be realized. This represented the operational break- even point and would in itself allow for a reduction in the season length with a commensurate reduction in production costs.

It had been a good first season for the company, Mr. Blake said and though there were considerable issues to be addressed about what could be done out of season to reduce non-export loss, the abattoir had to be made to work. He believed that throughout the history of farming there had been in different countries a "kick start moment." In Britain this had come with crop rotation, in Australia and New Zealand with the introduction of meat freezing and it was his belief that the Sand Bay abattoir represented the "kick start moment" for farming in the Falklands.

John Fowler - Stanley

Categories: Falkland Islands.

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