Where’s the beef? Study says Regina area ideal location for beef processing facility

Colin Savage, the director of economics and data analytics for EDR, said beef has already been established as a cornerstone of Saskatchewan’s agricultural sector.

“Right now, beef prices are probably the highest they’ve been in more than 20 years, so there’s certainly an opportunity there,” he said.

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Savage said Saskatchewan has the second largest herd of cattle in Western Canada at about 1 million heads.

However, the report details about one per cent of the herd is processed locally, with the other 90 per cent is processed in Alberta or Ontario.

“I don’t think many people know that a lot of the cows and a lot of the beef that leaves here is what’s coming back to them, stamped with ‘Made in Canada,’ or ‘Processed in Alberta,’” Savage said.

The study said a beef processing facility would be well suited in the Greater Regina Area with direct connections to United States border crossings and West Coast ports.

The facility would also be able to acquire feed from farmers close by, reducing costs.

“The opportunity for us to do it here, to generate jobs, to generate long-term, long-standing GDP, as well as municipal, provincial and other tax revenue, was just something we couldn’t overlook,” Savage said.

The beef processing plant could take advantage of the nearby Global Transportation Hub’s trimodal inland port.

With Regina’s location, the study said it would give 270 million people faster access to beef within 48 hours.

After construction of the project, the study found a new beef processing plant would bring $168 million in economic output and $76 million in GDP annually.

It would create 723 jobs.

“There’s a lot of cows raised in Saskatchewan,” Savage said. “Why aren’t they also processed here for a little more value for us?”

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