The mobile meat-processing unit will be en route to Grand Forks by the end of this month and will be ready for operation by early next year for local meat producers to use.
The mobile meat-processing unit, or abattoir, will eliminate costs on transportation and stress on animals for local farmers, as well as expand their markets.
Area residents will also have access to locally raised and government-inspected meat products, including beef, pork, goat, and poultry.
Roly Russell, president of the Grand Forks and Boundary Regional Agricultural Society (GFBRAS), explained that everything is coming together smoothly.
“We are expecting delivery at the end of November,” he said. “As long as everything goes according to plan, we should have it inspected and approved for operation before the end of the calendar year.”
Russell noted that once the abattoir is ready, GFBRAS would be awarding the contract out to another group to operate the unit. A request for proposals will be accepted from interested parties.
GFBRAS would maintain governance and control over the unit but it will be fairly minimal, such as transparent and fair costing, he added.
“It would be fair in terms of how much it would cost to move it, how much it would cost to set it up, and how much it would cost to use it,” Russell said. “If you are a poultry producer, if you have 500 birds, you can do the math yourself to determine whether it makes sense to bring that unit to your property, or whether it makes more sense to partner with somebody else where the unit is and transport your birds there.”
Discussions and plans for the production of a mobile meat processing unit were finalized last year with the GFBRAS receiving funding from the federal government last March to help with the construction of the unit.