Canada-New Beef plant to open despite economic downturn.

CANADA-NEW BEEF PLANT.

Manitoba cattle producers mainly own the company. Housed in the old Maple Leaf Foods plant in Winnipeg, the building is being retrofitted and phase one of the project just finished. That means Manitoba producers a place to take their beef instead of relying on the United States.

"It’s long over due, since the BSE, the cattle industry has taken a hard hit and we’ve been so dependant on shipping south and what’s going on its gone from BSE to Country of Origin Labeling regulations everything has gotten tougher. We need to take some control of that," sys Kelly Penner, the president of Keystone Processors.

Penner has been trying to do that for some time. A few years back he tried to kick-start another slaughterhouse called natural prairie beef. Now, he’s the president of Keystone Processors, and is spending his time lobbying the federal government for more funding.

"They’ve announced a program and they’re trying to define where they are going to put that money. So we’re in front of them and it really hinges on both levels of government stepping in and making sure we get this done," says Penner.

While the building is still under renovations, the company is using another facility for slaughtering in the meantime. It’s hoped the plant will be fully operational by 2011 when it’s expected anywhere for 250 to 500 head of cattle will be slaughtered daily.