A FEASIBILITY study for the design, construction and operation of a mobile abattoir and processing facility in the Pilbara and Gascoyne rangelands is expected to be completed by June.
Yarrie station and Outback Beef owner Annabelle Coppin, who is undertaking the research, said there was still a place for mobile meat processors in Australia.
"Mobile meat processors have been around for a long time but they were gradually stamped out in Australia due to over-regulation of the industry and the high costs associated with running them," Ms Coppin said.
"But I think we're going to come full circle and these little abattoirs will make a comeback.
"They won't replace the big meat processors but there is certainly a purpose and place for them."
The feasibility study had been a long-term goal for Ms Coppin after she was awarded an ISS Institute Fellowship scholarship in 2010 where she travelled to the United States to investigate its mobile processing systems and examine how it could operate in Australia.
Ms Coppin said there was less regulation and "red tape" in the US meat processing industry compared to Australia.
"We know that the industry needs to be regulated but we don't want to be totally ruled by regulation as it's ridiculous how far cattle have to travel to get killed sometimes," Ms Coppin said.
"It adds unnecessary logistics and freight costs.
"I think there will be a strong demand for it in the future and even right now, we've just got to make it work economically."
Ms Coppin said results from the feasibility study had highlighted that business owners would need to employ a person full-time just to deal with the regulation side of things.
"But the biggest risk factor to consider for business owners is you can't get pre-approved on plans, you have to build and invest in the abattoir first, so there are a lot of unknowns and we would like to see some changes to the approval processes so it isn't as big a gamble," Ms Coppin said.
Acknowledging that mobile abattoirs wouldn't substitute large abattoirs or live export markets, Ms Coppin said they would add some flexibility to producers' markets.
"Mobile abattoirs don't economically make sense to feed the masses - it's more about selecting a small amount of cattle off your property for a boutique market to help make your business more financially viable," Ms Coppin said.
"At a rough estimate we think the mobile abattoirs would be suited to processing about 10 head a day or maybe 50 head of cattle a week and looking to service a premium and local market."
The owners of Australia's only mobile meat processor, Provenir in Victoria which was founded in 2017, had been helping Ms Coppin with her feasibility study.
Funded by the State government's Northern Beef Development program, in 2019 Ms Coppin was awarded one of seven de-risking investment grants aimed at "pre-investment activities to support decisions to expand, relocate or establish processing and production facilities in WA".
Ms Coppin said she was hopeful she would be able to build a mobile abattoir at Yarrie station in the future to support her Outback Beef enterprise.
"Back when my grandparents were producers there were little abattoirs everywhere so they had access to those smaller markets, but not the larger ones we do now," Ms Coppin said.
"If we support the development of smaller abattoirs again producers will get the best of both worlds, as they will be able to cater to both markets.
"Hopefully, at least by the end of my career, there will be a heap of them around."
