News

New beef processing plant to open in early 2025

The president of the American Foods Group says a new beef processing plant in eastern Missouri should start contracting cattle later this year.

Steve Van Lannen tells Brownfield America’s Heartland Packing plant will source cattle within a 500-mile radius of the Warren County facility and there are options for livestock producers to market their cattle.

“We’re probably one of the largest beef packers buying at the auction barn each day,” he says. “We also buy directly from producers and pickup at the farm. We also have buying stations. We’ll have a buying station at the facility.”

Van Lannen says the plant will process cows, bulls and fed cattle.

“A big part of our model is the dairy industry. Missouri isn’t the biggest dairy state in the country, but there’s certainly dairies in nearby states. There will be opportunities for cattlemen to feed those beef-dairy crosses and the opportunity to keep feeder calves in Missouri.”

Work on the plant started last year and the processing facility is expected to be fully operational in January 2025.

“We’re looking to process a few hundred head each day in the first few weeks,” he says. “When we get to the first full shift after a few months we’ll process 800 to 1,200 head. And then, we’ll see what the cattle volumes are and where we’re at in the cattle cycle right?”

Van Lannen says a wastewater treatment plant is also being built in the St. Charles district, which he says should be operational in October or November.

Once completed, the packing plant will span nearly 19-acres and include a harvest floor, carcass chillers, fabrication, rendering, storage coolers, freezers and loading docks. Van Lannen says the beef will be sold to U.S. food service and grocery stores, like Wal-Mart, Aldi and Dollar General, or exported to 38 countries.

AFG has processing plants in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Brownfield interviewed Van Lannen at the Missouri Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show.