(Resource News International) — Plans to build a new
one million-head per year hog slaughtering facility in Saskatchewan have officially entered their second phase of development, according to a consultant involved in the project.
Jim Ramsey, a project consultant for Fishing Lake First
Nation and chairman of the project, said the first phase involved
completing a due diligence report.
“The first level review shows, that from a business planning
and a market analysis point of view, this is a good project and
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phase,” Ramsey said by telephone.
The Fishing Lake First Nation expects to be in a position to
break ground for construction at Saskatoon
by this coming spring, Ramsey said.
The Saskatchewan Slaughter Plant Initiative, a partnership
involving the Fishing Lake First Nation, the Saskatchewan Pork
Development Board, Big Sky Farms and the provincial government, has been working toward the construction of the
Saskatoon facility since Maple Leaf announced about a year ago
that it would close its hog slaughtering facility in that city.
The closure of that facility left the province without an
active hog slaughtering outlet. Producers in the province have
been shipping hogs to slaughtering facilities in Brandon,
Phase 2 of the project will include putting together a
senior management team to address issues such as tendering and
permitting, Ramsey said. Securing some additional financial
security will also be involved.
Phase 3 of the project will be the actual construction
of the facility, Ramsey said.
It’s hoped the facility will be able to process its first
hogs by the fall of 2009, he said.
Neil Ketilson, general manager of Saskatchewan Pork, said
there have already been talks aimed at securing hogs for the
facility and that producers in the province are already willing
to commit.
“It’s expected the plant will be up and running about 12 to
18 months from the day construction begins,” Ketilson estimated.
Pork produced from the new facility is expected to be
primarily destined for the overseas market, including Asia and
Europe, Ketilson said.
