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New Processing Plant? Oklahoma cattlemen are getting almost $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to explore the possibility of forming a beef processing plant cooperative. About 150 Oklahoma cattlemen formed the American Native Beef steering committee in support of the USDA's value-added marketing research and development grant. They each contributed $100 to be applied toward stock purchase if the project is successful. Gary Bledsoe with the Oklahoma Agriculture Department said Oklahoma cattlemen are tired of sending their cattle out of state to have it slaughtered. Oklahoma is fourth in the country in cattle inventory, but it ranks 38th in cattle processing, behind even New Jersey. Bledsoe said it's shameful that Oklahoma slaughters only about 10,000 head of cattle annually in small, custom processing facilities. Mason Mungle, the chairman of the steering committee, said there are no major packing plants for cattle in Arkansas, Louisiana or Northeast Texas. "Rather than Mr. Smith from Chicago owning the facility and taking all the profit out of the state, this could potentially be something that could be owned by many hundreds of Oklahoma producers," Mungle said. |
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