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A pink pig in a fenced in area looking directly at the camera.
A brown cow in a green paddock looking into the camera. It's a sunny day.
A pink pig in a fenced in area looking directly at the camera.
A brown cow in a green paddock looking into the camera. It's a sunny day.
26 June 2025
26 June 2025

Processing on Property: Micro & Mobile Abattoirs in Action

With small and mid-scale farmers across Australia facing mounting barriers to meat processing, farm-based models are emerging as a powerful tool for taking back control. In our fourth session in the abattoir crisis webinar series, Sustainable Table and the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) co-hosted a roundtable focused on on-farm processing models, featuring two farmers who’ve done the hard work of building micro and mobile abattoirs themselves.

This practical, solutions-oriented conversation with Pete Armstrong (Grazed & Grown, NSW) and Dominic Murphy (Meredith Dairy, VIC) offered a deep dive into real-world experience, covering everything from compliance and design to labour, licensing and lessons learned. While we experienced some technical issues during the session and only part of the recording is available, we’ve compiled a full summary and FAQs to ensure the insights live on.

What We Covered

This session highlighted the possibilities and challenges of micro and mobile abattoirs in the Australian context, emphasising that while not always a profit-making venture, these systems can deliver ethical, resilient and farmer-controlled outcomes when carefully planned.

Clarify Your Purpose

  • Be clear on your “why”—whether it's animal welfare, food sovereignty, or community resilience.
  • Owning your processing system puts pricing, quality and timelines back in your hands.

Choose a Model That Suits Your Context

  • Mobile abattoirs (e.g. trailers or containers): May avoid planning permits, but come with logistical and operational challenges.
  • Fixed micro-abattoirs: Offer stability and efficiency, but can face more rigorous planning and zoning barriers.
  • A boning room may be exempt from planning—advocacy could help create similar carve-outs for small abattoirs.

Understand the Minimum Viable Scale

  • Higher annual throughput improves financial sustainability and offsets compliance costs.
  • Value-adding through on-farm butchery can improve margins and resilience.

Navigate Compliance Early

  • Food safety plans, water testing, licensing, audits—it’s a significant undertaking.
  • Build respectful, persistent relationships with your local food authority.
  • Thoroughly reading regulations before you begin can save time and setbacks.

Design for Efficiency

  • Plan adequate chilling capacity—underestimating it is a common pitfall.
  • Start with one or two species and expand gradually—redesigning later is expensive.
  • Well-designed systems with basic equipment can still operate effectively.

Budget for Labour & Skills

  • You’ll need to pay qualified meat inspectors and butchers—this cost starts before full throughput.
  • Skilled, enthusiastic staff are essential to prevent burnout and ensure consistency.

Invest in Training Pathways

  • Australia faces a national shortage of meat inspectors—supporting training or hosting programs on-site is a strategic investment.
  • Partner with your Department of Primary Industries or local RTOs to build capacity.

Learn From Others

  • Don’t reinvent the wheel—use existing templates and food safety plans where you can.
  • Both Pete and Dom are open to serious enquiries and site visits.
  • Joining or forming a collective can help share costs, knowledge and risk.

Resources

If you would like to get in touch with any of the speakers, please contact hello@sustainabletable.org.au.