We woke up to a cold and rainy day in Melbourne. While watching the news today we learned that in the area we are traveling in, is preparing for floods. In the next two days they are expecting as much rain as they usually get in a month.
The first thing on our list today is to visit the Brooklyn Abattior owned by JBS. We were very lucky to be able to receive this tour, however, we were not allowed to take pictures. This abattoir (slaughter plant) kills 5000 sheep and 1200 cattle daily. In Australia they own 11 meat processing plants and 5 feedlots.This particular operation employees 1100 people.
We started this tour by changing into mud boots, a smock, with a hair net, and ear plugs. Once equipped with these essentials we headed into the beef kill floor where we were allowed to see everything from the cattle being killed to the packaging of the meat. In the boning room it was amazing to watch all how fast and efficient the employees can work. In addition to this they have an automatic machine that takes the boxes of meat and automatically puts the lid on.
Also on their tour we got to see their sheep kill floor, which look like a miniature version of their beef like floor. However, this particular plant is in their second day of operation in a product that is sold in their local Coles supermarket and they hope to grow enough to be able to export it. This product is different cuts of lamb packaged with seasoning/marinade.
We were on to lunch for our next stop. This is some of the best food so far, besides our hotel breakfast. We had fish and chips and apple crumble with ice cream for dessert. Now this was not exactly like what you would get in the states, but compared to some of the food we have been eating it was Amazing.
This afternoon we visited with the owners and manager of Webb Black Simmental, which was a very enjoyable stop. This operation was bought 6 years ago and was started, and the Webb family is partly responsible for promoting and building the Simmental breed in Australia. They were able to do this by buying semen and embryos from the states. However, three years ago a fire went through and burnt down everything but one building, but they did not lose any animals. They were able to save them all because of they had a patch of ground that was all dirt where they put all the animals so the fire could not get to them.
Now their operations has been built back, and they now have a herd with approximately 150 head of cows. And their main focus is producing bulls, because they keep all their females for replacements. They soon hope to be able to sell Simmental or SimAngus females due to the market for them.
The time we spent at their operation was COLD and rainy. We did thought get to see some of their bulls, females, and sale facilities before we went into their office to have a drink and learn more about their operation.
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