A rancher-driven beef processing facility took a step closer to becoming reality. An official groundbreaking event that was held in North Platte for Sustainable Beef, a rancher-owned meatpacking plant that is scheduled to open late in 2024.
The groundbreaking comes just weeks after Sustainable Beef announced a partnership to supply the majority of the meat that comes from the plant to Walmart.
“We set out on a journey two years ago to create a new beef processing plant to add some capacity to the industry and provide an opportunity for producers to integrate their business of raising quality cattle with the beef processing portion of the industry and do it in a sustainable manner,” said David Briggs, chief executive officer of Sustainable Beef. “During this journey we found that Sustainable Beef and Walmart aligned on continuing to improve how we care for our animals and crops and provide consumers the positive experience of enjoying quality beef.”
Walmart will officially be a minority owner in Sustainable beef and be represented on the board of directors, but the majority of the ownership will remain with the Nebraska ranchers who helped launch the project.
The 1,500 head-per-day plant will provide 875 direct jobs, and will be located on the site of the former city sewer lagoon.
In addition to agreeing to sell the ground to Sustainable Beef, the City of North Platte contributed $1 million in forgivable loans along with $21 million in tax increment financing. Additional funding for the project included the previously mentioned stake taken by Walmart, the Federal Farm Credit System, and a $20 million contribution from the State of Nebraska that came from federal America Rescue Plan Act funds.
This story includes information from the North Platte telegram and the Nebraska Governor’s Office.