Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many meat large processors were forced to temporarily slow processing beef due to outbreaks among staff.
The closures created a bottleneck in the industry. Cattle were not being processed, forcing many ranchers to either find alternative locations to process their meat, hold and feed until they could get the beef to a plant, or sell their livestock at a local auction. All three options traditionally mean lost revenue for already struggling families in the cattle industry.
According to Northern Ag Network Ag Director Colter Brown, the bottleneck has begun to clear, but the industry isn’t making a quick recovery. Many local Northern Wyoming producers have been forced to transport their cattle hundreds of miles to process their animals, losing more of an already thin profit margin.
While appearing on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse, Western Heritage Meat Company owners Taylor and Cathryn Kerns told listeners that’s why they founded their company and worked tirelessly to get it off the ground.
Western Heritage Meat Company is USDA Certified, that certification allows local producers who process with the company to sell their product nationwide. With the ability to process approximately 25 to 30 animals per week, the company is organized to be utilized by farm to table operations.
Western Heritage Meat Company plans to open their doors to the general public and local ranchers sometime in early February. The company rushed the production of the plant to fill the much needed local role, pouring the first concrete slab back in November of 2020.
This good news! Growing up in Sheridan there were about 4 to 5 packing plants or meat processing plants; upon my last visit there was only 1 private that was able to accommodate the ranchers and hunters.
Will the cattle be humanely processed?
Much better than being left to rot in the field.
I was referring to the horrific treatment of animals in factory farming.
This is a much need entity in our area. Look forward to working with the Kerns family.