Reindeer owners are worried about not being able to sell their reindeer when the slaughterhouses have large stocks of meat left from last year. And several Sami villages, mainly in Norrbotten, are reported to have fewer reindeer to slaughter instead.
“It is a very hard blow for the reindeer herding industry,” says Roland Sandgren, CEO of Arvidsjaur’s reindeer slaughter.
Arvidsjaur’s reindeer slaughter is one of the slaughterhouses that still has a lot of meat in its warehouses from the previous year. A total of 12,000 reindeer were slaughtered from their own purchases last year. This year there will be a halving with 6,000 slaughter trainers.
– The corona struck when the slaughter season was over last year, so we had filled stocks. It stopped the market in Norway, among other places, all festivals this summer and then we also have the Finnish side, which is big for us. It is our three legs where we sell large volumes, but unfortunately no products go out, there is a stop there, says Roland Sandgren, CEO of Arvidsjaur’s reindeer slaughter.
Right now, the price of reindeer meat in most places in Sápmi lower than last year. This is shown by Sameradions & SVT Sápmi’s tour of several slaughterhouses. Arvidsjaur slaughter expects that the prices of reindeer meat will fall by 15 – 16 percent.
– It’s a lot for the reindeer industry, they have to make a living selling the reindeer. It will be a two-stage rocket for them, we buy half as much and then maybe we can not pay as much as usual. For the reindeer herding industry, it is a very hard blow.
Mikael Kuhmunen, chairman of Sirge’s Sami village believes that the price may still increase in any case in Norrbotten. This is because there will not be as much clean to sell.
– There have been some calves this year, the winter has been bad and the number of reindeer has decreased. It will be difficult for those who usually sell calves. I do not know how it will go for them. I hope that the moose has survived and those who usually sell moose can do so. If there are no moose, I do not know how it will go, says Mikael Kuhmunen.
Roland Sandgren believes that it is unfortunate that reindeer owners need to be affected, because reindeer owners and slaughterhouses are interdependent.
– We at Arvidsjaur’s reindeer slaughter are dependent on a functioning reindeer industry, so this is a long-term concern. In the short term, most things can be solved, but in the long term it is not good for the industry at all.
Here you will find slaughterhouses and this year’s slaughter prices for reindeer and moose from south to north.
Source: ICELAND NEWS