LACOMBE, Alta. – A new meat plant for processing alternative livestock should be operating this summer.
A test kill was planned for mid-July at Canadian Premium Meats south of Lacombe.
The plant is designed to custom process bison, elk, cull cows, bulls and if necessary, horses. Planning for the plant began in 2004 when producers lost their export markets due to BSE restrictions.
Construction started last year with the usual delays experienced with contractors and regulators, said Yvo Schmucki, who owns the facility with Werner Siegrist and Armin Mueller.
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The owners hope its central location on two major Alberta highways offers freight advantages to local producers. Less transportation should also reduce stress on animals.
“It’s important to have the infrastructure and facilities in Alberta and Canada. We can add the value here, have the jobs here,” said Thomas Ackermann of Canadian Rangeland Bison. The bison company plans to have Canadian Premium Meats process its animals. It has also set up an office next door to market meat internationally.
Besides having federal inspection, which allows the meat to be exported, the plant promises to process animals to the customers’ specifications. It also offers on-site chilled and frozen storage for customers.
Once the Canadian Food Inspection Agency approves the plant, the owners will apply for European Union certification and promote Canada’s meat products worldwide.
“There’s demand for stuff with a maple leaf on it and I’m convinced that is going to be a bonus in Europe,” said Ackermann.
The 2,880 sq. metre facility is all enclosed and was designed by the German company Banns Innovative Meat Technology.
“All the equipment from the knock box to the deboning area was shipped from Europe,” said Schmucki.
It is similar in design to plants seen in Europe, he said.
The design takes animal welfare and humane treatment into consideration with good lighting, nonslip flooring and chutes designed to handle a variety of species.
Animals enter an indoor barn area with special pens and proceed to the knock box for stunning. From the box they fall onto a special designed tray that looks like the bucket of a front-end loader. The carcass is hoisted up, bled and moved to a hide skinner. It then moves along heavy duty rails on hooks capable of holding 2,800 pounds.
Carcasses will be broken down into primal cuts. Specified risk materials will be separated and sent to a renderer.
Because the plant plans to handle several species, there are three separate cooler rooms that can hold 350 carcasses in total. It can process up to 35 head per hour.
