HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Hill County Commissioners Diane McLean and Jake Strissel met with Montana Cooperative Development Center (MCDC) Executive Director Tracy McIntyre and Program Director Davey Madison to discuss the potential for a Premium Meat Processing Co-Op processing center that would be located at the Montana Agro-Energy Industrial Park just southwest of Havre.
The MCDC is helping Montana Farmers Union in the creation of a Premium Processing Co-Op that will be producer owned.
The Co-op, which is still going through the process of being incorporated, is planning to submit a formal proposal to the Hill County Commission in the next week or two. They are looking to purchase two adjacent lots in the Park that cover a total of 9.4 acres. The potential offer is for $45,000 for the land. $9,000 would be paid up front to Hill County, and then an additional $9,000 would be paid to the County annually over the next four years.
If an agreement between the County and the Co-op is approved, there are still plenty of steps that need to be taken before the processing center would get up and running. This includes developing the land so that things such as water and electricity are available.
The total cost of the project is projected to be around $2 million. They are working with Bear Paw Development and others to find viable funding options, and the County may chip in as well.
The hope is for the processing center to be in use by the spring of 2022. At the start, it would be capable of processing the equivalent of 250 head of cattle a year, but that could increase to between 2,500-4,000 head by year three or four. The center would also have the capability to process pigs, sheep and bison.
There could also be the possibility of an Apprenticeship program with the Center for students at MSU-Northern.
Commissioner Diane McLean said she was “thrilled,” to see someone interested in using the Agro-Energy Industrial Park, adding that local producers have found it “difficult to get cattle to slaughter.”
