Japanese beef plant for CAN?
Japan interested in Man. cattle
By Ian Bell
Brandon bureau
There have been some preliminary queries this year from Japanese interests contemplating whether to establish a cattle slaughter plant in Manitoba.
Betty Green, president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, said she has heard of at least two meetings in Manitoba that discussed the topic of a cattle slaughter plant to supply Japan.
While the discussions appear quite preliminary, she said it is encouraging that additional slaughter capacity is contemplated.
"We're delighted that there's some interest being shown in our province. There's clearly a void which creates those kinds of opportunities."
The void Green is referring to is the limited amount of slaughter capacity in the province, particularly plants that are federally inspected and capable of exporting beef out of the country.
Because of that, Manitoba has been forced to rely heavily on the slaughter capacity of Alberta and the United States.
That reliance became a problem when the U.S. border closed last year to imports of Canadian live cattle following the discovery of BSE in an Alberta cull cow. The result has been a backlog of cattle and weakened prices for the animals.
The Western Producer was told that a meeting was held in Brandon about a month ago to talk about Japanese interest in a cattle slaughter plant in Manitoba.
The source said that one possibility was construction of a plant worth about $40 million, although that idea was also described as preliminary.
Green said she also has heard talk about a plant being built worth $30-$40 million. Although she knows of no definite plans for such an undertaking, she said her association has made it clear there's a willingness to consider extra measures related to things like BSE testing that might be needed to attract further slaughter and processing capacity to Manitoba.
"Back in June, during the World Meat Congress (in Winnipeg), we sent out a very important signal to the international beef importing countries, that if they would clearly identify what their demands were, what their expectations were, we would look at meeting those on a contract basis.
"If they were willing to contract for a product, we would certainly be open to looking at what their demands or their requirements were," Green said.
Japan interested in Man. cattle
By Ian Bell
Brandon bureau
There have been some preliminary queries this year from Japanese interests contemplating whether to establish a cattle slaughter plant in Manitoba.
Betty Green, president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, said she has heard of at least two meetings in Manitoba that discussed the topic of a cattle slaughter plant to supply Japan.
While the discussions appear quite preliminary, she said it is encouraging that additional slaughter capacity is contemplated.
"We're delighted that there's some interest being shown in our province. There's clearly a void which creates those kinds of opportunities."
The void Green is referring to is the limited amount of slaughter capacity in the province, particularly plants that are federally inspected and capable of exporting beef out of the country.
Because of that, Manitoba has been forced to rely heavily on the slaughter capacity of Alberta and the United States.
That reliance became a problem when the U.S. border closed last year to imports of Canadian live cattle following the discovery of BSE in an Alberta cull cow. The result has been a backlog of cattle and weakened prices for the animals.
The Western Producer was told that a meeting was held in Brandon about a month ago to talk about Japanese interest in a cattle slaughter plant in Manitoba.
The source said that one possibility was construction of a plant worth about $40 million, although that idea was also described as preliminary.
Green said she also has heard talk about a plant being built worth $30-$40 million. Although she knows of no definite plans for such an undertaking, she said her association has made it clear there's a willingness to consider extra measures related to things like BSE testing that might be needed to attract further slaughter and processing capacity to Manitoba.
"Back in June, during the World Meat Congress (in Winnipeg), we sent out a very important signal to the international beef importing countries, that if they would clearly identify what their demands were, what their expectations were, we would look at meeting those on a contract basis.
"If they were willing to contract for a product, we would certainly be open to looking at what their demands or their requirements were," Green said.