Sustainable Meat Production and Processing

Pictures

Pictures from my upcoming book
'The Sustainable Meat Challenge'

Part 1: Setting the scene: Why this book and why now?

Chapter 1: Why we need animal agriculture

A worm count is a good indicator for soil quality

Soil does not get better than this

You can smell good soil

Industrial agriculture

The top soil is almost gone.

Depleted soil: rain turns it quickly into mud because the water infiltration is low

Fertility building herbal leys on an arable field

A new area is fenced in for the cows to move in

No glyphosate needed to ‘terminate’ the herbal lays. The cows enjoy the species rich mix and fertilise while they graze

Cows rip off grass with their tongue. That triggers photosynthesis in the grass plants to goes into overdrive.

Grazing leaves a ripped edge. It remains because grasses regrow from the bottom. Trees and other plants are different: when shoots and leaf buds get eaten they will not regrow.

Short grass prairie in eastern Colorado. Grasses and cattle have co-evolved over millennia. For grasslands to thrive they need to be grazed and fertilised in the process.

Cattle on mixed grass prairie in Nebraska

Land management team here to help

Hardy and happy outside year round

Part 2: New rules – solutions from across the Channel

Chapter 4: Regulated down to the second

Sigel’s animals stay year round on grass

A licensed hunter will shoot the animal within the herd

To transport the dead animal a simple ‘slaughter box’ with a lid is sufficient

Chapter 5: A good life and death within the herd

Springtime at Hofgut Rengoldshausen

Coming in for milking and to see the calves

Super mum

Contentment

Simba, the bull on calf care duty while the moms graze

Low stress stockmanship means working with the animals

The slaughter box Knösel had designed and constructed at the cost of €30,000

Mechthild Knösel explains the yoke panel used for slaughter

The upper part of the yoke panel

The yoke panel is not set in concrete and can be fully opened

Knösel with one of the bolt guns she uses

Chapter 6: When small abattoirs work best

There will be blood

The Legau abattoir

The pigs are sprayed with water which ensures that the electric tongues for stunning will work well

The stunned pig is lifted up….

… the artery is cut and the animal is bled out

It took just minutes for all the pigs to be slaughtered

De-hairing with hot water

Any remaining hairs are singed off with a blow torch

The pigs had their tails docked. Not a good sign

The organs are removed in one piece

Heart, liver and lungs ready for inspection by the vet

The carcass is split in half with a saw

Farmer and butcher lead the blindfolded cow into the abattoir

The animal is bled out….

… and placed on a sledge for de-hiding

This cow was grazing just hours earlier

Saying good-bye

Vet Jenny Härle inspects the inner organs…

… and filling out the paperwork. All done before breakfast.

Spoilt for choice

Germans do take sausages seriously.

Thomas Kling and his colleagues are back from the abattoir

Charcuterie

Sausage making

Freshly cured

If it hadn’t been for Frieda…

…. and her piglets….

… we would not have learnt about the Konrad butcher’s and abattoir

The facility cost €4 million to build

Living the good life

Rooting….

… taking a mud bath…

… going nose to nose…

… and enjoying being a pig.

Judith Wolfarth with one of the boars

Getting out of the trailer

No fitness studio needed…

… this takes precision, muscle power and lots of skill

In the cooler. Note the intact tails.

Chapter 7: Butcher training, humane slaughter and meat quality

The butchery behind the classroom is fully equipped

Fabienne, the plaster cast cow with removable muscle groups and organs.

Fabienne will not be replaced by high tech touch screens.

There is a lot for visitors to do and see

Piglet youth gang

Group housing

A mud bath is happiness

Josef Straubinger explains where the animal is stunned and the carcass can be removed through a gate similar to a garage door

More prep to be done…

… ripening to perfection

Part 3: Across the Atlantic: prairies and ‘niche meat’

Chapter 8: Prairies, Bison and the Dust Bowl

The vegetation indicates where there is more or less water

Grassland are stunningly beautiful

Even the Bighorn sheep enjoy the view

Tell-tale signs…

…of the bison that escaped the yearly count

Within seconds everything disapp ears in the dust clouds

The dust cloud is as thick as fog

It must have been stunning to see a herd of bison on the open prairie

Chapter 9: MSUs and abattoirs: Big and sophisticated or small and simple

Mike Callicrate works with a custom built hangar that has a docking station for the reefer on one side

The MSU sits in the hangar, the animals are bled out outside

The carcass is split in half

The animal halves and usable organs will be transported to the facility near Colorado Springs for processing

Bowden, North Dakota. Population 138

BMP co-founder and chairman Cory Hart

Mike Flicks farms a few minutes drive from Bowden

On the farm the animals have a great life

The BPM sausages are very popular

Lauren Monson is the office manager…

… and helps out where ever she is needed

A farmer picks up his meat

The Farmer’ Lawyer, Sarah Vogel, shows us Bismarck and the banks of the Missouri. Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1804 near here.

The North Cascades Meat Producers Cooperative MSU stationed at Del Fox’ farm

The MSU needs water, electricity, the surface has to be concrete or paved.

The holding pens have been custom built

The head of the animal can be fixated in the clamp if a stun gun is used

Butcher Del Fox prefers to shoot the animals because they are likely dead and not just unconscious

The animal is dragged onto the forecourt and bled out

Next step: cleaning

The carcass is winched into the MSU

The last of the hide comes off

The slaughter waste is collected outside

The body cavity is washed

Ready for the cooler

The dressed beef halves stay in the cooler for 24 hrs or until they have a temperature between 5° and 7°C

Chapter 10: Making the most of it: processing meat efficiently and building a local food system

The Island Grown logo is prominently displayed

David Stockstill’s office is small and cramped. The monitor allows quick communication with the shop floor.

The butchers have processed six lambs, 11 pigs and 300 pounds (136 kilos) of trim for three different farms today

Equipment needs not just to be clean but also easy to access

Processing is only efficient if smokers and cookers are filled to capacity

David Zarling doesn’t care about the looks when HACCP rules are involved

A sophisticated labelling machine is expensive…

… but essential to deliver shelf ready products

A Cured culatello ham

Sampling the produce at the Pybus Public Market in Wenatchee

Jeff Roger’s two part MSU for sheep

The lambs come through a run on the side of the unit

The MSU is fitted with two AC units, a generator, a tank for potable water, a water heater and a pump.

The cooler unit is detachable and can be pulled with a station waggon

Inside the abattoir section

The hooks for the carcass move easily on wheels normally used for inline skating

The Meating Place west of Portland, Oregon

Pick your own

Custom cutting at the Meating Place

More women are becoming butchers

No one cuts you slack just because you are a woman

The endless sausage needs to be tied of and hung

Shop manager Marena Gray standing next to the bear hanging amongst the beef

The signposting definitely helps

Ben Meyer, the vegan turned slaughterman and butcher

Because of lack of space…

… meat often has to go back into the cooler

Humane slaughter is Meyer’s number one priority

Monday is not a slaughter day

Cattle are used to being in a squeeze and a head yoke

Every three months Meyer reviews with employees how animals are to be stunned

Different bolt guns for animals of different size

Humane handling starts with unloading the animals

The first pig makes its way out of the trailer

The others follow. No need to shout or prod.

The pride of being artisan butchers

Chapter 11: Skills needed: meat cutting, management and marketing

Promoting grass-fed beef is what Nick Wallace does

On a beautiful fall day the cows are gleaning in what was a corn field

A proud Angus

Will the neighbours take note?

Chapter 12: Lessons from the EU and the US and how to implement them here

Robert Jones takes meat to where the customers are. Walter Smith meat products are now also sold at shops in garden centres.

Only few traditional butcher shops survive on Britain’s High Streets

Ieuan Edwards, the ‘Welsh Butcher’

Sausages, burger patties and bacon are some of the products made in the processing unit on the outskirts of Conwy

PGI stands for ‘Protected Geographic Indication’ – you know where your meat comes from

Chapter 13. In a time of change in agriculture, the narrative needs to change

Sheep on upland farms have to be hardy

Most lamb outside and only have to be brought to the farm for shearing

These hills are made for rearing cattle and sheep. On farm slaughter would guarantee animal welfare and be profitable for the farmers.