RED DEER – An Alberta beef plant that closed nearly two years ago may have a buyer.
A consortium called Canadian Legacy Partners hopes to reach a deal with Sunterra Meats to take over the closed Rancher’s Beef near Balzac.
The group has until June 1 to find the money from private and producer investment, said Gary Etherington of the consortium.
Producers are asked to pay $30 per animal committed, Etherington told the Alberta Beef Industry Conference in Red Deer Feb. 19.
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“If you are looking at 100 head, that is a $3,000 investment,” Etherington said. “We will know by the first of May whether or not there is the appetite and will to go forward.… It is not for everybody.”
The federally inspected plant could handle 100,000 head per year and is able to meet the needs of specialty groups rather than compete with large volume plants handling commodity beef. However to be as efficient as possible, the plant needs to have large groups of consistent cattle coming through every week.
“There is dollars (available), we just have to find a way of getting there efficiently, but we can’t do it at 50 head a week.,” Etherington said.
“We have to be at 500 head a day.”
Etherington said he once worked with a group called Border Beef, which represented 1,000 producers with 300,000 animals. It was processing specialty beef packages but struggled to find a small packer interested in handling niche products.
