As Saskatchewan producers ponder the new set-aside programs to keep cattle off the market, initiatives to increase slaughter capacity are moving ahead.
David White, general manager of Natural Valley Farms Inc., said the effort to establish slaughter and processing facilities in Neudorf and Wolseley, Sask., is quietly proceeding.
“We have virtually all our shareholders in place,” he said. “Our covenants from lending institutions are in place.”
Site work is progressing and landscaping equipment is being used to dig lagoons.
At the former Abbott Laboratories building in Wolseley, White said a 14 week renovation plan is well under way.
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“We’ve gained a lot of ground,” he said.
The plant will market natural beef and cull cows.
The company’s website describes natural beef as coming from cattle raised without antibiotic feed additives, hormone implants or antibiotic treatments.
White said the company has secured all its supply and hasn’t been making a lot of noise about its progress for that reason.
About 1,200 producers from the three prairie provinces are involved. White said there are about 50 shareholders and the rest have acquired hook leases.
A $200 lease entitles a producer to deliver one cull cow per hook each year for five years. Between 30-40 percent of the company’s business will be the cull cow market, with the remainder natural beef.
White said natural beef will “impact Canada in a significant fashion” as consumers make their demands known.
“We think the environment is right,” White said. “People can grow more cattle. We have unique selling points.”
Natural Valley will initially process 600 head per week and expects to be slaughtering by spring.
In Swift Current, Sask., the South West Beef Initiative has also moved a step forward. The proponents have hired Derek Murray Consulting to prepare a feasibility study for the Great West Beef packing and processing plant planned for the area.
A $25,000 grant from the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development Program in Saskatchewan is funding the study, which is to be done in December. The results will dictate the size of a potential plant.
Karen Bonesky, manager of the Southwest Centre for Entrepreneurial Development, speaks for the proponents. She said producers, feedlot operators, veterinarians, lenders, rural municipalities, the city and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations are all committed to the project.
“They’re saying, ‘look at the strength we have in our economy,’ ” she said.
There are about 330,000 cows in the southwest, she added.
“We already have lots of what we need in place.”
Meanwhile, the proposed $65 million beef and pork facility near Qu’Appelle, Sask.,has been at a standstill since the death in July of the main proponent from Ireland, Benny Bennett.
He was chief executive officer of DMB Food Processors, a company that planned to process 4,000 cattle and 9,000 hogs each week.
Producers of both commodities were meeting with DMB officials to talk about investing in the project.
Sources said that may still happen and the project could proceed, but it also likely needs major investment and marketing expertise from Europe.
