Highland and Island farmers to benefit from abattoir expansion

Remote farmers and crofters across the Highlands and islands will soon find it easier to get livestock processed, as Mull Slaughterhouse & Butchery launches a new collection service aimed at cutting transport pressures and supporting rural food production.

The new trial, funded through the Scottish Government’s Small Producers Fund, will see animals collected directly from farms across the Inner Hebrides and parts of the west Highland mainland.

Collection runs will include islands such as Coll, Tiree and Colonsay, alongside mainland areas stretching towards Fort William.

The move comes at a time when many small abattoirs across Scotland and the wider UK are disappearing, leaving remote farmers with fewer local processing options and longer livestock journeys.

Flora Corbett, chair of Mull Slaughterhouse & Butchery, said growing demand from outside the island made the expansion a natural step.

“We know we offer something genuinely different here and we want to make it as easy as possible for more people to access it,” she said.

Despite being based on Mull, around 70% of the slaughterhouse’s business already comes from outside the island. Corbett said producers across the Highlands and outer islands increasingly viewed the facility as a “more personal, flexible and often cheaper alternative” to larger processors.

The abattoir handles around 140 cattle, 700 sheep and 200 pigs annually, alongside increasing numbers of goats and red deer. It provides slaughter and butchery services under one roof, while allowing customers to request individual cutting specifications.

“One farmer took four sheep in today, with four completely different cutting lists,” Corbett said. “That’s just not something a large operation has time for.”

Former Quality Meat Scotland private slaughter co-ordinator Jenny McKerr said smaller abattoirs remained essential to maintaining local food production in remote parts of the country.

“Small abattoirs like Mull are absolutely critical to keeping local, high-quality food production alive in Scotland,” she said.

McKerr added that practical solutions such as livestock collection services could help support small producers, improve animal welfare and protect Scotland’s food provenance.

Campaigners have repeatedly warned that the loss of small abattoirs threatens the viability of remote livestock farming and local food production, particularly in island communities.

The collection service launch also coincides with fresh investment at the site. Solar panels are currently being installed and are expected to generate enough electricity to virtually eliminate the facility’s energy bills, which are currently its second largest cost after wages.

Established in its current form during the 1980s, the slaughterhouse was rebuilt following a fire in 2009. It employs five staff and operates a weekly slaughter day, with lairage available for animals arriving the previous day.

Processed meat is either collected directly by customers or transported back via a cold carrier operating from Oban.

Corbett said there was still a misconception that the facility only served Mull producers.

“A lot of people assume it’s just for Mull,” she said. “But we’re here for anyone.”

Aberlour sheep and goat farmer Julie Comins travels more than 150 miles every fortnight to use the Mull facility. She said reducing stress during transport and processing was vital to maintaining meat quality.

“You can rear the best quality animals in the world but if the abattoir experience is stressful and ends up affecting the meat, it can undermine everything you’ve worked for,” she said.

Comins described the service as “hassle free”, praising the calm lairage and flexible approach offered by the business.

“For businesses like the slaughterhouse, every customer that makes that journey is the difference between it being viable and not,” she added.

Corbett, who has spent more than a decade advocating for the facility, said the slaughterhouse remained central to Mull’s wider food economy.

“This isn’t just about farming,” she said. “The restaurants, the hotels, the food economy of the whole island, they all depend on having somewhere local to process.

“The slaughterhouse sits at the heart of it all.”