Nebraska ranchers set up their own beef plant
One month on from the Biden administration’s announcement that it would address what it regards as imbalance in the beef industry, a new venture called Sustainable Beef has announced the construction of its own plant in Nebraska.
A group of ranchers in this key cattle-rearing state has raised $300 million to launch Sustainable Beef. The plant will be at North Platte, in Lincoln County, in the west of the state. It will have a processing capacity of 1,500 head of cattle per day.
US secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, said in September that the administration wanted to make big packer groups accountable for what he called “for unfair and discriminatory practices”. One of the measures he said he would put in place was increased support for smaller meat processing companies and livestock farmers to help them expand their capacity.
However, the Nebraska ranchers behind Sustainable Beef have said the idea is one they have been talking about for around 30 years.
