After a flurry of winter meetings to announce plans for packing plants to kill cull cattle, more than a dozen groups in Alberta are moving ahead, hoping to build a facility in their area.
The stages range from doing a detailed feasibility study, to raising money, to starting engineering drawings for a plant, but none has begun construction, said Gordon Cove, leader of the meat unit in Alberta Agriculture’s agriculture processing branch.
“They all got a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of desire. It’s getting the capital together to build the place,” said Cove.
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He said most of the plants will cost more than $20 million to build.
Cove hosted a meeting in Red Deer last week to bring the groups together to learn about the latest rules, but also to act as a forum for the groups to talk and possibly work together.
“It was an effort to get a much more co-ordinated approach,” said Cove, who added that there are probably five serious players that will move from concept to an actual packing plant.
“Will something happen at the end of the day? I can’t tell you that, they’re still progressing,” said Cove.
Judy Fenton is with the Rangeland Beef Processors, a group of producers that wants to reopen the mothballed Blue Mountain Packers in Salmon Arm, B.C. She said the group plans to reopen the plant to slaughter cows and bulls over 30 months of age despite some headaches.
“We’re working forward, just sometimes things slow down,” said Fenton, of Irma, Alta.
“It gets a little frustrating at times,” said Fenton, who has spent most of the winter pushing the idea.
Originally, the group wanted to have the plant running by June, but that date has been pushed back until July. A shareholders agreement and memorandum of understanding must be finalized before it is sent to the almost 300 producers who have agreed to buy shares.
While there’s good support from farmers, even during tough financial times of BSE and drought, the interest from large food chains has given the group a much-needed boost. Fenton said several large companies have shown an interest in buying as much as the group can supply.
In Sexsmith, Alta., Neil Peacock of Peace Country Premium Beef Co-op said interest has continued strong.
He said the group had hoped to have the feasibility study completed by the end of May, chosen a location and begun the environmental impact study in either Beaverlodge or the Berwyn and Grimshaw area. All that has been delayed because the provincial government turned down the co-op’s funding request for the $70,000-$100,000 feasibility plan.
“When the big boys built their plants the government coughed up $50 million and now they’re not willing to spend one nickel on the small plants. It’s very frustrating,” said Peacock, referring to Alberta government help to Cargill and Lakeside to encourage the plants to build in Alberta. Peacock said the group doesn’t want to spend construction money on the feasibility study.
Cove said the government has made it clear it is not going to invest, but it may be able to fund part of a feasibility study or help with financial plans.
Like the Rangeland Beef Producers group, the Peace co-op has had interest from hotel chains, restaurants and meat suppliers wanting to buy their hormone-free beef.
“The interest has been incredible,” he said.
Stan Schellenberger of the Rancher’s Own project to build a packing plant west of Edmonton, said it’s in the final stages of the business plan and investor memorandum.
He hopes the agreements will be finalized by the end of June for the 3,000 members the group hopes to have as part of the packing plant. Construction on the 200-400 head per day facility will begin in the summer.
Schellenberger said the biggest challenge has been publicity. If a week goes by without farmers hearing about the project, some people think it is dead.
“It takes a lot of effort to go out to the communities and explain the project,” he said.
Like the other projects, the response from meat marketers has been a positive.
Schellenberger said five of the top marketers of manufactured beef have contracts with them to sell production from the plant.
“We’re in good shape.”
