Plans to build a $27 million beef slaughtering plant in Dauphin, Man., are coming to fruition, said Bob Munroe, president of the Rancher’s Choice Beef Co-op Ltd.
The latest financing proposal received tentative approval from the co-op’s board Nov. 20, but full details will not be released until the financing package is examined by the co-op’s lawyers, probably by mid-December.
“To get the proposal together so that it is useful to us, our lawyers have said there is about 15-20 inches of paper to produce,” Munroe said.
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“Other than that, we have all our permits and blueprints done and certified for construction. We have all our (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) approvals. We own the land and have all our environmental improvements done. We have everything ready except the signing of the final financial package.”
Munroe is optimistic that once the deal is signed, construction could begin on the plant within days.
“Winter construction is not a problem,” he said. “In fact it may be easier because there might be more construction workers around in the winter than there are in the summer.”
A proposal from a French international lender was rejected by the board earlier this year.
“The financing was turned down for being unrealistic. We couldn’t accept the plan,” he said.
The co-op has signed on 3,300 members, each of whom paid $105.40 to join. Each member must buy a minimum of two shares or “hooks,” at $100 each, which entitles them to ship at least one animal per year.
Producers may buy as many hooks as they wish, but are obligated to send at least half as many animals to the plant as the number of hooks they own.
Those members who have not bought shares will be charged a slaughter fee, which will be determined once the plant is operational.
The idea for the proposed 6,300 sq. metre slaughtering plant was hatched after the border with the United States was closed to Canadian beef in May 2003. The plant, which is expected to cost up to $40 million once all start-up costs are factored in, will have enough slaughter capacity to kill up to 330 head a day, or 80,000 a year.
The plant was first proposed as a solution to the glut of cull cows and bulls in the province that were the result of the U.S. government’s decision to maintain an import ban on cattle older than 30 months.
