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New Iowa beef processor to begin operations

A tight beef supply has forced several beef packing plants across the U.S. to close their doors in recent years.  But a new beef plant in east-central Iowa hopes to buck that trend.

Iowa Premium Beef of Tama will begin operations in early November and plans to be slaughtering 1,100 head of cattle per day by next spring.  CEO Jeffrey Johnson says finding enough cattle should not be a problem.

“We have a very good supply network around us,” Johnson says. “If you look at the numbers from last year, they marketed 650-thousand fed cattle within 100 miles of Tama and 1.2 million cattle within 150 miles of the Tama facility.”

And Johnson says they are seeing an increase in cattle feeding in the area.

“If you look at the trend on cattle production—if we look at the producers themselves—cattle are moving north. Iowa, being the number one corn-producing state, also has the input called distillers grain,” he says. “We see a lot these grain farmers that are putting up these one-thousand head confinement barns around, within this 150-mile radius.”

Iowa Premium Beef is located in the former Iowa Quality Beef plant, which closed in 2004.  The plant was built in 1971 by Tama Meat Packing. It has operated under several owners over the years, including Tyson Fresh Meats.  However, none of the tenants have been able to achieve long-term success.

Johnson says by the time they’re done, Iowa Premium Beef will have spent nearly 49 million dollars in remodeling and expanding the plant, which will employ 600 people when it opens.

Seventy percent of the beef produced at the plant will go to domestic markets, Johnson says, with 30 percent exported.

AUDIO: Jeffrey Johnson