With the results of a feasibility study now in his hands, David Reykdal is optimistic about efforts to establish a slaughter plant in Manitoba for cull cows and bulls.
Reykdal is one of the people leading the effort to convert a Winnipeg hog processing plant into a cattle slaughter plant under the name Rancher’s Choice Beef Co-op Ltd. He would not reveal details of the feasibility study last week, but judging by his comments, the findings were clear.
“We are optimistic that this is going to go ahead,” he said, suggesting it may be only two or three months before the Winnipeg plant is ready to start killing cattle.
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The feasibility study looked at the cost to convert the plant from hog to cattle slaughter, and where potential markets exist for the beef. A business plan was also developed.
Results of the study were shared with government officials in the provincial agriculture and industry departments last week. Reykdal said he did not want to make details of the study public because they still have to negotiate for the purchase of the Winnipeg processing plant.
The beef co-op has also passed another milestone. The provincial government wanted the co-op to gather at least 1,000 members as an assurance that cattle producers are behind the venture. As of last week, more than 1,500 members had joined, Reykdal said.
The growing membership gives him added optimism and gives the beef co-op more leverage when approaching the provincial government for a loan to support the cattle packing endeavour.
“It’s given us all the more confidence to carry on with this.”
The beef co-op was formed in response to the glut of cull cows and bulls in Manitoba that accumulated following the closure of the United States border to Canadian cattle imports this spring. Manitoba has limited packing capacity and there were challenges to find capacity elsewhere to get the cattle slaughtered.
There are people in the cattle industry skeptical of what the beef co-op is trying to achieve. They suggest that when the U.S. border reopens to imports of Canadian cull cattle, an event that is generally considered to be years away, the co-op might find it difficult to compete with major cattle packers that show a renewed interest in those animals.
Reykdal said the co-op has strong support from the provincial government for its proposed plant in Manitoba. He suggested that government backing, along with producer interest, should be enough to withstand competition from the titans of the cattle packing industry.
Markets for various cuts of beef from the Rancher’s Choice co-op have been identified in Ontario, he said. He described those markets as large and the kind that will endure.
“They’re not going to go away.”
