Manitoba cattle producers hoping to develop their own slaughter facility for culled cattle have hit a snag.
This month the board members of Rancher’s Choice Beef Co-op Ltd. had hoped to be crisscrossing the province holding meetings and selling class A voting shares to fellow producers, trying to raise $3.5 million by the end of March.
“We were gung-ho to get this done and then we suddenly find out that (the Manitoba Securities Commission) needs 21 days before we can go forward,”said Blair Olafson, a cow-calf producer on the Rancher’s Choice board.
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“We cancelled a lot of meetings. They told us we could go to jail if we talked to folks about buying shares before the 21 days were up … our first meeting with producers looking to invest will now be April 15 in Neepawa.”
Closure of the American border to live cattle exports and beef from older animals has caused producer prices for culls and older bulls to drop by more than 50 cents per pound. While packers say there is demand for the cows at the new lower price, many producers have chosen not to deliver at that level.
Olafson said the postponed meetings hadn’t dampened producer enthusiasm for the project and the “phone just keeps ringing, but from Saskatchewan and Alberta now too.”
He said producers across the Prairies are interested in buying the $100 shares that would allow the delivery of a single animal a year per share.
The owners of the old Winnipeg Best Brands plant are asking $6.6 million for the facility. The balance of the $11-$12 million the producers estimate they would need to launch the project would be used to upgrade the facility and cover early operating expenses.
The province of Manitoba has offered $2.5 million to Rancher’s Choice, as long as the co-op comes up with $3.5 million in producer shares.
