News

Local meat processing plant highlight of Nebraska village on Governor’s Ag Tour

A meat processing facility is helping to boost the economy of a small town in southern Nebraska. 

“We’ve bounced back from this time a year ago and things are looking good,” Jesse Owens, owner of the Diller Locker Company tells Brownfield.

He said they made the switch from jerky and ready meat production to slaughtering because of COVID-19. “All of our customers – we had some fairly large national brands we worked with – they rely on boxed beef and when the packers closed or reduced their production they couldn’t get anymore meat and the purchase orders stopped coming,” he said.

Owens says they increased their workforce from 5 employees in 2015 to 50 this year and have plans to expand because they’re booked through this year.

In an interview with Brownfield, Governor Pete Ricketts said the Diller plant is a fantastic example of how to grow agriculture in the state. “The guys here who are running the Diller locker here are doing a fantastic job, they’re growing and hiring more people. That’s what we want to see in towns like Diller,” he said.

The Governor wrapped up his Ag Week tour of Nebraska ag businesses on Wednesday.