A desire to create new markets for culled cattle is driving a proposed slaughter plant at Neudorf, Sask., says Ken Piller of Natural Valley Farms.
The cow-calf and feedlot operator said the abundance of older animals caused by BSE and international border closures has created opportunities for high-end niche beef markets in Canada.
“We need to stand on our own and give it a try,” he told the Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association conference in Saskatoon Jan. 30.
“I believe Saskatchewan has really good benefits.”
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He said cattle that are slaughtered close to home experience less stress than those shipped long distances out of province.
He also questioned the practice of shipping beef east to the major retailers, only to see it shipped back west to consumers.
Piller said the plant will offer niche markets a “gate to plate” supply by the end of 2004.
It will initially offer high-quality branded beef to Canadian retailers and processors, with export opportunities possible in the future. Meat will be processed to U.S. Department of Agriculture, European Union and Canadian Food Inspection Agency standards.
Producers would receive premiums for producing animals with certain characteristics such as hormone or antibiotic free.
Piller said being vertically integrated and small will ensure a consistent supply of beef that fits niche markets and customer needs and provide individual animal traceability.
“We have to listen to the consumer and we need to produce what we have been asked for.”
Cam Taylor of Wolseley, Sask., a founding director and one of 40 investors in Natural Valley Farms, said producers will pay $188 per animal to use the facility, which will be able to handle 600 cull cows and 100 fed cattle each week in the first year.
“The money has come from private investors, mainly cattle producers, who felt this was good investment to build the income stability of their operations.”
Taylor said producers keep ownership of their cattle but the plant will pool meat for orders.
Seventy people will be employed in a facility roughly the size of a riding arena, with a covered holding pen for cattle.
A second plant, tentatively proposed for Wolseley, will serve as a cut and wrap facility that will make 300 different products, including fresh, frozen and boneless beef and edible byproducts such as heart, liver and tongue.
Greg Larson, a slaughter plant operator from Leross, Sask., and an investor in Natural Valley Farms, said the plant will ensure a consistent brand by paying attention to how animals are selected, fed and treated and at what size they are killed.
Taylor said producing high-quality brand name meat will ensure repeat customers similar to consumers who always buy a certain kind of soap.
“People will know it by name. Minute Maid orange juice instead of bulk container orange juice.”
Feeder association board member Jeff Rask of Rask Feedlot in Parkside, Sask., said the group is on the right track.
“Anytime you can put things to a final product and ship them out of our province, it’ll be something great.”
He said building a slaughter plant would also help expand Saskatchewan’s feeder industry.
