Ethnic meat project making headway
Presque Isle County Development director Bill Valentine says that the ethnic and organic lamb processing plant is one step closer to reality after the establishment of a steering committee was completed last week. ?We have a diverse group of individuals involved in different aspects of agricultural economic development,? Valentine told the Advance on Tuesday. ?I was in Lansing last week to meet with the MSU Product Center about getting funding for a feasibility study. The next cycle of funding begins in October and we want to be ready with our proposal to get started,? he continued.
THE PROJECT was recently reported in an MSU Extension newsletter serving the Upper Peninsula. MSU Extension director Ben Bartlett noted that organic or grass fed animals raised for specialty markets has great potential. ?I visited with a Texas lamb and goat producer who said a huge processing plant in his state sits empty while live sheep and goats are shipped to the East coast due to ethnic processing and marketing requirements. The details in ethnic marketing are critical,? Bartlett said in the article. He observed that northern communities are far enough away to be special but close enough to huge ethnic markets in Detroit, Chicago and Toronto to keep shipping reasonable.
ERIC WALLIS, a long time sheep producer from Pickford, attended the informational meeting in Rogers City and has agreed to serve on the steering committee. In addition to Valentine, the other members are: Dave Glenn, Presque Isle County MSU Extension director; Rob Tryban, livestock producer from Cheboygan; Jim Bristol, sheep shearer from West Branch; Dan Kiser, Detroit-based marketing consultant; Ron and Gretchen Diffen, livestock producers from Posen. Tom Kalchik, of the MSU Product Center, is an advisor to the committee. ?I am getting inquiries about the project almost daily,? said Valentine. He noted that there were some misconceptions on the part of a recent
?COMPARING AN ethnic and organic meat processing plant to factory-style chicken operations is like comparing oranges to road apples,?he continued. ?We are living in a different time. This will be a state of the art facility with the latest technology and procedures. Nothing is wasted or neglected. The new economy is all about smart growth and sustainable development strategies,? he said. Valentine went on to explain that 80 percent of the meat plant offal can be recycled producing additional revenue for the business while the remaining material is 100 percent biodegradable.
He said that ethnic and organic processing requirements are labor intensive which means a higher price for the product and more jobs for the community. ?Make no mistake about it, this lamb and goat meat project has legs and we are going forward,? he concluded.