Restoring Competition: Two meat processing facilities plan to open in South Dakota
Kingsbury & Associates, LLC and Sirius Realty announced plans to develop a $1.1 billion beef and bison processing facility, which will process 8,000 head per day. The plant will be located off Highway 79 in the Black Hills Industrial Park, south of Rapid City, S.D.
Kingsbury & Associates, LLC President and CEO Megan R. Kingsbury says the facility is in the research and development phase until the end of 2022, and groundbreaking will occur beginning of 2023, with a projected three-year timeline from groundbreaking to the initial beef and bison line opening.
Kingsbury is a fifth-generation Angus cow/calf producer in western South Dakota who is aware of the challenges producers face due to the power of the big four meatpackers.
“What we are doing is creating competition in the American beef market, breaking the chokehold of the big four packers on the producers and putting the money back into the industry supply chain,” she says.
High-tech facility
Kingsbury states the facility is projected to hire 2,500 employees. The tech component of the facility, including artificial intelligence and robotics, results in less of a demand for human workers and provides higher paying wages.
She notes the production lines will be robotic driven with artificial intelligence. Kingsbury projects this facility will be a safe and clean place for employees to work and will be a good neighbor to the community.
“There is no facility like this within North America,” she says. “The technology integrated takes the ‘sweat shop’ environment – hazardous jobs and horrible, horrible stories people often hear and associate with this type of production facility – out of the equation.”
Kingsbury notes the big four meatpackers currently have a hold over what producers can achieve. She feels it’s time for a change.
“The goal for this facility is to put America first and to restore competition back into the agriculture market, particularly the beef processing market,” she says. “There’s profit to be made both up and down the supply chain, and everyone wins when the American people are self-sufficient with high-quality, affordable protein.”
Kingsbury encourages Americans to open meat processing facilities, such as this one, to continue restoring competition.
“It’s very important for smaller facilities to continue to open in the U.S. We will partner with them, we will support them, we will certainly not cut into their profits by any means as those facilities are able to do unique, custom cuts for the discerning producer and the discerning buyer,” she says.
Hot Springs, S.D.
groundbreaking ceremony
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on May 25 for the Dakota Territory Beef, a partner with United Ranchers Cooperative, new processing plant in Hot Springs, S.D. The facility is projected to process 25 cattle a week and bring seven new jobs to the area.
The facility is projected to open at the start of 2023.
“We’ve broken ground and we’re moving forward,” United Ranchers Cooperative President Neil Sanders said at the ceremony.
Kaitlyn Root is an editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
