If all goes according to plan over the next couple of weeks, the expansion of a Manitoba beef slaughter plant will begin in January.
“We have all of our permitting in place. We fully expect to start construction in the middle of January,” said Calvin Vaags, president and owner of Plains Processors in Carman, Man.
In March of this year, the federal government announced a $2.8 million loan in support of Plains Processors so the company can expand its operation and become a federally inspected beef slaughter plant. As well, the Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council, an agency with the mandate of expanding beef slaughter capacity in the province, is providing a conditional loan of $920,000 to help finance the $13 million plant expansion.
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Right now, Plains Processors slaughters approximately 80 head per week. Following its expansion, the plant will be capable of processing 1,000 head per week.
With environmental permits and other technical requirements in place, what remains are financial arrangements with commercial banks, different levels of government and private investors, Vaags said.
Despite the complexity of those financial details, Vaags said construction could start early in the New Year.
“I fully expect to push the go button in the first week of January,” Vaags said.
Assuming construction begins in January, the expanded plant should be up and running by the winter of 2013, or earlier, he added.
“I think it’s possible that we’ll be receiving cattle, under a federal stamp, by late fall of 2012.”
