A group of cattle producers wanting to establish a cull slaughter plant in Manitoba has abandoned the idea of converting an existing facility and is now pursuing a new plant.
The group, known as the Rancher’s Choice Beef Co-operative, had originally planned to convert a hog slaughter facility in Winnipeg. Attention then shifted to buying an existing slaughter plant somewhere in rural Manitoba, possibly St. Laurent.
Last week, the group said it was instead going to pursue the possibility of building a new plant.
Blair Olafson, one of the people leading the Rancher’s Choice effort, said a new plant would likely cost about $10 million.
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He cited Selkirk, Dauphin and Portage la Prairie as possible locations. Proximity to main transportation routes and availability of adequate water and sewer will influence the choice of location.
Olafson said the goal is to have a plant that could slaughter and process 250 head of cull cattle per day on a single shift.
With the backlog of cattle increasing in Manitoba, a plant should start operating this year, he said.
“We’ve got to start thinking speed. We have to start killing here shortly.”
Last winter, the Manitoba government pledged it would put up $2.5 million to help the Rancher’s Choice effort, provided there was evidence of support for the project from the province’s cattle producers.
Manitoba agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk said last week the province remains committed to increased slaughter capacity in the province and has budgeted money to support groups like Rancher’s Choice. However, she did not say whether the province’s original pledge of $2.5 million still stands.
The beef co-op sold shares in a bid to raise its portion of the capital needed to get a cull slaughter facility established. It fell short of reaching an original goal of $3.5 million, but Olafson said it managed to raise $1 million.
The federal government could not be convinced to invest in the Rancher’s Choice project when the intent was to convert the Best Brands hog slaughter plant in Winnipeg. Olafson said Ottawa seems more likely to support a new plant.
“Now they’re telling us ‘We’ll talk with you.’ They like what they’re hearing.”
Wowchuk was to travel to Ottawa earlier this week to meet with federal agriculture minister Andy Mitchell. She said her priorities at the meeting would be the need for more slaughter capacity in Manitoba and to get money flowing more quickly to producers through the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization program.
“The federal government has not been addressing the issue of slaughter capacity when it has been raised with them,” Wowchuk said. “There is an urgent need and we have to look at how we can address it.”
The minister said livestock industry estimates released by Statistics Canada show that feeder assistance programs are not enough to help producers withstand the effects of having the border closed to exports of live animals. She said in a News release
news that government support programs “should be designed to help producers, not fatten the bottom lines of slaughter plants.”
Manitoba’s cattle inventory as of July 1 was estimated at 1.75 million head, up 10 percent from a year earlier.
That underscores the province’s dependence on shipping live cattle south of the border, Wowchuk said.
Among the things affecting cattle herd size was the decision by producers to retain cull cattle in the hope the border would reopen this year.
Studies have been done to identify where markets might exist for the meat that the Rancher’s Choice plant could provide.
