By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A growing trend, at least in Stafford County, is for beef producers to slaughter, process, and package meat to sell directly to consumers. Those producers have to travel to the likes of McPherson and Kiowa to get the job done. Stafford County Economic Development is interested in changing that. Eco Devo Executive Director Ryan Russell and four others recently traveled to Abilene to speak with the owners of a mobile trailer.
"We're planning to meet soon, hopefully in the next week, to discuss some of the options and what we've learned so far," Russell said. "USDA has a grant that we're looking at as a possibility. There might be other funding sources as well. Right now, we're just gauging interest from the community and looking at what funding sources we would try to get if we were to create a plan and move forward."
Midwest Meats in Abilene has a 13-foot trailer with cooling capacity for five to six cattle. A three-person crew can set up a station at a nearby farm and complete the slaughter process of a cow within 40 minutes.
"The mobile trailer is just to actually slaughter the cattle at the farm," said Russell. "It allows them to have the butcher shop and the retail in the city limits, then going to out to the farm and slaughtering at the farms because there are regulations that don't allow them to actually slaughter within city limits."
The mobile trailer is just one option. Russell estimates a small slaughterhouse and packing facility would cost a minimum of $2-3 million. Within that facility, more decisions would have to be made about what animals can be processed if pig farmers and deer hunters express interest.
"We have to think about who's contributing," Russell said. "Is it just the feedlots or the farmers as well? We have three feeders in the county. We're looking at who is going to have skin in the game, plus how we do find financials outside of that in terms of federal or state funding to be able to build a facility."
The group that includes Billy Milton, Lisa Cornwell, and Scott and Jennifer Pfortmiller plans to meet again soon. Anyone with interest or questions about the project can contact Russell at [email protected], or by calling the Eco Devo office.