Wolseley, Sask., will serve as the corporate headquarters of Natural Valley Farms.
The Saskatchewan-based investor group wants to establish a gate-to-plate vertically integrated natural beef brand and create new markets for culled cattle by the end of the year.
It said March 15 it would locate its corporate offices and a processing and marketing facility in the town of 800 almost 80 kilometres east of Regina.
The Wolseley plant will cut and wrap up to 300 products, including fresh, frozen and boneless beef and edible byproducts such as heart, liver and tongue.
Read Also
Coloured bean production down, whites are up
Bean prices have been slumping and the outlook is for more of the same.
Natural Valley will operate a kill plant at Neudorf, about 40 kilometres north of Wolseley.
The company will initially offer quality branded beef to Canadian retailers and processors, with export opportunities possible in the future. Meat will be processed to standards suiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture, European Union and Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Producers will pay about $180 per animal to use the facility, which will be able to handle 600 cull cows and 100 fed cattle each week in the first year.
Natural Valley Farms will employ up to 70 full-time staff when fully operational.
Wolsely mayor Larry Hilderman was pleased to find a company to occupy the former Abbott Laboratories building. Abbott made intravenous equipment for 10 years.
Hilderman said Natural Valley Farms would generate economic activity and create new housing starts.
“This is the one that came along that looked great and we’re pretty excited about it,” he said.
