A $300 million upgrade to a southern New South Wales abattoir is using cutting-edge technology to reduce the need for highly skilled workers amid ongoing labour shortages in the meat processing sector.
Key points:
- AMG bought the Cootamundra abattoir from the Manildra Group in 2019 after it was closed due to high livestock prices
- A new beef processing line has been built and work on the chillers and storage facility is ongoing
- It is estimated only 85 per cent of meat working positions nationally are being filled
The Australian Meat Group bought the moth-balled Cootamundra abattoir in 2019 and has demolished most of the plant.
AMG Managing Director Gilbert Cabral said it was being rebuilt with new technology to simplify operations to make it easier to find the 1,000 workers needed.
“We’re not going to be reducing the amount of people [needed at the plant] but we’re able to produce more product per kilo per person,” Mr Cabraal said.
“Everywhere we can reduce the labour skill component, we’ve been able to engineer that out of it [the processing line]. That makes it a lot easier to train a bigger group of workers.”
Mr Cabral said the stockyards had been designed to maximise animal welfare and ensure people could move around without coming into contact with the livestock.
Inside the processing facility, carcases will be tracked using Radio Frequency Identification to allow for more efficient processing tailored to the customer.
Mr Cabral said there would also be a lot of automation at the facility so that cartons and pallets of meat could be sorted and moved efficiently.
“It is cutting-edge [technology],” he said.
“Certain plants in Australia will have some components but we’re able to put everything together on one site.”
Labour shortage continues
The Australian Meat Industry Council said only 85 per cent of the available meat processing jobs were being filled.
Council CEO Patrick Hutchinson said processors were innovating to make employment in the industry more attractive.
“We’re seeing that more and more in some of the more laborious tasks that can be undertaken through innovation, and robotics,” he said.
“It’s not about those people being replaced, they actually get to work elsewhere in the facility.”
But Mr Hutchinson said the industry was also calling for support to ensure a permanent workforce for the sector, including changes to make it easier to access overseas labour.
“The scenario that we face is that we need to take both a national and international approach to that workforce,” he said.
“The PALM (Pacific Australia Labour Mobility) scheme does have its limits and we need to be trying to see what else that we can do or our capacity will be constrained.”
He said the regional housing shortage was also making it difficult for regional processors.
“We’ve heard of people buying caravan parks, hotels, pubs, motels, as well as creating their own on-site accommodation,” he said.
AMG will begin slaughtering cattle at the Cootamundra abattoir after completing the first stage of the plant’s redevelopment.
When fully operational in 2025 it will process 1,000 cattle and 7,500 sheep a day.
Mr Carbal said 1,000 workers would be needed when the cattle and sheep processing lines were operating simultaneously.
Workers from Samoa have already arrived in Cootamundra and the company plans to build on-site accommodation.
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