Christopher Walljasper, Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, (Reuters) – A fifth-generation cattle rancher plans to construct the largest South Dakota beef plant with the capacity to slaughter 8,000 cattle per day.

While the project, worth $1.1 million, could address Biden’s worries about increasing food prices and the lack of competition in meat production, it wouldn’t be fully operational until at least 2026.

Kingsbury and Associates and Sirius Realty spearhead the project, which is headed by Megan Kingsbury from a South Dakota ranching and farming family. According to her, construction of the plant will begin in 2023. It is expected that it will take at least three years.

Congress and the Biden administration scrutinized the beef sector after COVID-19-related outbreaks closed slaughterhouses early in 2020. This left ranchers without a way to transport cattle and people facing shortages of meat.

Cargill is one of the four largest companies. Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:), JBS SA According to the sector data, National Beef Packing Co (OTC:) and National Beef Packing Co (NBC:) slaughter around 85% U.S. fed cows. The government blames a lack competition for the rising prices of food. Meat producers deny this accusation.

Kingsbury’s proposed project would allow Kingsbury to slaughter approximately 1000 more cattle per day that the Tyson’s South Dakota plant.

Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University is an agricultural economist.

However, some analysts in the industry believe the plant will struggle to find labour, create supply chain relationships, and become profitable with tighter cattle stocks.

Due to droughts and lower profitability in the past, ranchers have decreased the U.S. cattle herd. This has left fewer cows for slaughter.

Kingsbury expressed confidence that the new plant would be able to overcome shortages of cattle and other labor problems. According to Kingsbury, the new plant will have 2,500 employees and make use of advanced technology found in Europe and Asia for processing beef more efficiently.

Kingsbury stated, “We must break the old mentality that the packing plant is a sweatshop.”