The finishing touches are being applied to a refurbished beef slaughter plant near Salmon Arm, B.C.
Rangeland Beef Processing plans to handle as many as 300 cows and bulls per day once the federally inspected facility is fully operational, said shareholder Judy Fenton of Irma, Alta.
The plant was closed several years ago and needed some improvements, but once it goes through final certification with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, work can begin this fall.
An open house for shareholders is planned for Aug. 28.
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The greatest challenge for this plant was ironing out corporate legislation between B.C. and Alberta.
“When you are working interprovincially there are differences. The basic ground rules should be the same,” Fenton said.
The plant sits on nine acres outside the city and is designed to allow expansion.
When a group of producers realized the American border would not open to mature animals anytime soon, they decided to open a plant and start slaughtering cows and bulls on their own.
Plans started about a year ago by selling 300 shares at $5,000 each to interested producers in Alberta and British Columbia.
“Everyone thought the door would magically open, but we knew it would be for cattle under 30 months,” she said.
Fenton said ranchers with mature bulls are likely to be their first customers.
There is almost no market for these larger animals and few places are willing or able to handle them.
Bids of less than five cents a pound are common this summer, making it hardly worthwhile to haul animals to a plant.
The B.C. plant is expected to employ about 60 people and has been welcomed by the community hard hit by forest fires, soft wood lumber trade disputes and BSE.
