Nebraska Packer to Supply Walmart

AMES, Iowa (DTN) -- Packing plant fires, COVID-19 shutdowns and other black swan-type events that affected the beef packing industry led Trey Wasserburger five years ago to start discussions with several of his contacts about how to prevent such similar events from affecting the beef industry so dramatically.

Wasserburger and his family run an Angus seedstock business near North Platte and are the driving force behind Sustainable Beef LLC, a ranch-driven and owned beef processing facility in North Platte, Nebraska, which is set to open in the spring of 2025.

"No one told me how hard it would be to convince a city to let us build a beef plant," he said during an address at the Iowa Cattlemen's Association Convention in Ames, Iowa, recently. "I knew we had to have the three Cs to be able to build -- the city, the cattle and the capital." But it took a lot more than just those three factors. Following 16 political votes -- for zoning, building permits, etc. and never received a no -- in North Platte, Nebraska, and 18 months of construction, the plant will be ready to accept cattle in the next few months.

The first meeting with the city administrator in North Platte was in August 2020. Wasserburger said it wasn't just about getting the OK from the city government, but was also about marketing the idea to the entire city and area communities.

"Thankfully, the area has loved the idea, and we are already seeing it impact the community with growth and construction everywhere," he said.

The plant is expected to have a $1.5 billion impact on North Platte. Current additions have already been made to main street businesses, and there is also talk of additional schools being built.

ALL THE COMPONENTS FOR SUCCESS

Nebraska is currently second in the nation for fed cattle production, and the opening of the new plant will help the state maintain its lead in commercial cattle slaughter, according to Wasserburger. Sustainable Beef LLC will process 1,500 head of cattle each day and will employ more than 850 people with the one-shift processing.

While the city of North Platte is on the western side of Nebraska, the location of the actual plant is right off Interstate 80 for convenience of shipping.

The plant is 550,000 square feet in size and will be one of the largest plants in the country. Wasserburger said it is important for employees to have space to work, with 4 to 5 feet of space on either side. Forty loads of cattle are expected at the plant each day with 22 to 26 reefer trucks traveling in and out each day.

"The area is about 33 acres of concrete; it's RCC -- roller compacted concrete -- which can be poured in the morning, and you can park a truck on it by noon," he explained. This innovation has helped move the construction along faster, he said.

"The fourth 'C' for success is consumption, which was boosted by a phone call to one of our founders, Bill Rupp, from Bentonville, Arkansas, saying they had heard about our project and wanted to visit with our team," Wasserburger said. "When the vice president of Walmart came to visit, we showed him around the city, our ranch, the feedyard, the cornfields. He loved it."

On Aug. 31, 2022, the project received a boost when Walmart announced it would acquire a minority stake in Sustainable Beef and have representation on the board of directors. This would also give access to its large retail food outlet nationwide. This move helped complete the needs for the plant with a source to sell the beef.

MAKING THE SPECS

Wasserburger is realistic in knowing what cattle are available and the time it takes to complete a cattle cycle to make changes. Looking at harvesting Angus genetics at the plant had to be expanded to have the supply that is needed. The color specs will include black Angus, red Angus and black-nose Charolais cattle, but will have to fall under the other quality USDA specifications set by the company.

"We've had to broaden it up, especially with the tight cattle supply," he added.

Three main cattle feeders located within 200 miles of the North Platte plant will supply most of the cattle, but about 20 other cattle feeders are involved and have bought shackle space as well, and those cattle will go into the database. The beef will be of high quality, as Walmart won't take select beef, so consistency is important, Wasserburger said.

Wasserburger said he expects to be looking for cash cattle on the open market on a weekly basis to some extent.

"The problem is there's not a lot of cash cattle out there," he said.

Once the plant opens in the spring of 2025, production is expected to ramp up to eventually get to the slaughter capacity.

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

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