Meat Quality of Bison Slaughtered in a Mobile or Stationary Abattoir Jayson Galbraith, M.Sc., P.Ag. Elk/Bison Specialist Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development CBA Convention November 22, 2009

Outline Description of overall multi-location abattoir project Bison project The mobile unit in the field What was found (some results) Next steps

Technical and business feasibility of multi-location abattoirs Project Partners: Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development  Regulatory Services Division  Food Safety Division  Rural Extension and Industry Development Olds College, Meat Program Lacombe Research Centre

The project has three phases Phase I. Project organization, MLA unit design and construction Phase II. Initial testing of the MLA unit, writing HACCP based operational plans, obtaining provincial meat inspection approval Phase III. Field testing of the abattoir (including the bison project), data collection and reports

MLA design

MLA Plants maximum size is limited by the highway transportation regulations. The trailer dimensions 53 ftLength 53 ft 8 ftWidth 8 ft 14 ftHeight 14 ft

Local markets- for rural areas (Roininen et al, 2006) Provincially inspected meats Bison - AB (15%) Elk - AB- 896 (20%) Cattle- 6.5% across Canada Opportunity

Field testing- Bison study Compare meat quality and physiological stress in bison exposed to different pre-slaughter treatments Provide baseline values against which the effects of pre-slaughter treatments could be evaluated in further research with bison

Measurements Muscle temperature, and cold carcass pH Glycogen potential Bruising Drip loss Shear value Proximate analyses Sensory panel Color Fecal corticosterone Blood cortisol

Rapid browning of bison meat Important issue for fresh meat sales Reasons for rapid discoloration

Other objectives of MLA bison project Develop an operating procedure that results in maximum benefit of utilization of MLA on farms Farm setup requirements Procedure for field shooting, handling etc. Business analysis of unit, feasibility Differentiated product, domestic markets

Hagedorn, 2008

Bruising 2/55 quite bad (6-8kg). One MP, one S 46/55 none or a ‘1’ score

Conclusions and Implications Improved meat tenderness was seen in bison slaughtered on-farm through a mobile abattoir compared to those transported to a stationary abattoir On-farm, the penned group resulted in more favorable carcass color and driploss measurements over the confined group This has implications supporting low-stress handling of bison

Publication expectations Short paper and poster at International Congress of Meat Science & Technology Meat quality of bison slaughtered in a mobile or stationary abattoir Physiological stress of bison slaughtered in a mobile or stationary abattoir Bison meat fatty acid profile

Questions