McCREARY, Man. – Manitoba soon will have a new multi-species slaughter and processing plant.
The plant near McCreary is expected to open early in the new year and will be able to slaughter cattle, hogs, bison and elk.
Its owners say they will be slaughtering and processing animals to market meat wholesale. They also will do custom slaughtering.
Henry Makinson, who raises 400 bison near Roblin, Man., says the provincially inspected plant will open new marketing opportunities for his ranch. He used to rely heavily on farmgate sales, but government regulations curbed his ability to do that.
Read Also
Powdery mildew can be combine fire risk
Dust from powdery mildew can cause fires in combines.
“I hope to have the first animals slaughtered here, but there could be a lot of other competition,” said Makinson, during a Dec. 12 open house at the new facility. “I’ll work day and night to get some here.”
Eight investors
The plant is being built by eight shareholders and will operate under the name Oak Ridge Meats Ltd.
Shareholder Greg Fedak said the slaughter and processing facility is being built for less than $500,000 with no government grants or loans.
The shareholders expect to draw animals from a 100 kilometre radius.
Interest in the new slaughter plant has been keen, said Fedak. He joked that they could have covered much of the construction cost by charging $1 for every person that stopped by this fall to tour the 4,100 sq. foot building.
A large crowd attended the open house last week. Donations for the beef and bison burgers and refreshments went to the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association crisis fund.
The owners of the plant were applauded for their efforts by local and provincial dignitaries.
Bill Finney, a director for the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, said it is important to increase the slaughter capacity in Manitoba, especially since bovine spongiform encephalopathy in an Alberta cow closed the United States border to imports of Canadian live cattle.
That made it challenging for producers to find slaughter capacity, especially for cull cattle.
