Athol Meat Processor Tries To Resurrect Itself
To city dwellers, the word "slaughterhouse" may not have many positive connotations.
But to small farmers, meat processing facilities are community institutions. So, when the Adams Farm slaughterhouse in Athol burned to the ground in December 2006, the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce quickly collected a list of about 200 people who wanted to keep abreast of plans to rebuild the family-owned facility.
"I miss Adams," said David Petrovick, the owner of Caledonia Farm in Barre, whose name appears on the chamber list. "They had a lot better quality mindset for what we needed. They took particular care to pay attention to my cutting instructions."
Spring Awakening
Adams Farm took a step toward rebuilding when it received a $250,000 state grant earlier this month. The 50-year-old slaughterhouse is now seeking loans to finance a new, larger $3.4 million building, and the family has already replaced the equipment that was destroyed in the fire.
The owners say they hope to be back in business in the spring, and area farmers, many of whom are trying to take advantage of growing consumer interest in local meat, can't wait.
Petrovick, who raises just six cows a year but plans to ramp up production over the next few years, said he now takes the animals to a facility in New Hampshire. Other former Adams customers use Blood Farm in Groton, which is the only remaining USDA-certified slaughterhouse in the state, or take their animals as far away as Pennsylvania.
With 500 cows, lambs, pigs and goats moving through Adams Farm each week and about 15 workers on the payroll, co-owner Richard Adams said the facility was larger than the rest of New England's slaughterhouses put together. Farmers who are now taking their business elsewhere said all the other facilities in the region are now too busy to easily accommodate everyone.
Adams is banking on finding plenty of demand for the slaughterhouse's services when it's back up and running. The new facility the family is planning will be able to accommodate as many as 1,500 animals a week.
Part of the increased capacity could satisfy the demands of local farmers, many of whom are turning to specialty meat production as rising costs outpace returns in more traditional agriculture.
At Robinson's Farm, a fourth-generation family farm in Hardwick, owners Pamela and Ray Robinson decided a few years ago to reduce their herd of dairy cows from 100 to 50 and began transforming to an organic dairy with grass-fed cows. They now slaughter a few male calves for sale as grass-fed veal, and they hope to add organic beef and pork.
"Growing into a larger consignment dairy wasn't an option for us," Pamela Robinson said. "It just wasn't a good use of energy resources."
Beyond processing animals for local farmers, who then sell the meat under their own labels, Adams also buys animals and sells meat itself.
Richard Adams said the farm expects a big boost in that business from Texas-based organic retailing giant Whole Foods, which he said has offered to give the slaughterhouse enough business to occupy a third of its capacity.
Even before the fire, Adams said, the slaughterhouse met organic, humane standards required by Whole Foods and other specialty customers. Before starting other orders for the day, the facility would process organic animals so they did not touch traditionally produced meat. The slaughterhouse also processed halal meats for some Boston-area customers in a similar way, and it expects to get those customers back as well when it reopens.
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