Meat+Poultry - April 2023 - 20

COVER STORY
to have diversification of processing. There's
some pride in being locally owned by multiple
partners who are either local or regional
with no out-of-state ownership, or foreign
ownership. So that's of course a big reason I
think you have a lot of support as well. It's an
Idaho company, owned by an Idaho family, and
Idaho families are partners. "
While supply chain
disruptions presented
obstacles to construction,
True West Beef was
completed and expects
to be operational
in May 2023.
which goes over to the West Coast from here,
goes straight over to Portland and you can
get down to San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas, all
the major metros in the West are less than 12
hours from this location, " Theiler said. " So, it's
a good location. "
PERSEVERANCE FOR THE PEOPLE
Jerome, Idaho, is in the south-central area of
the state in a region known as the Magic Valley.
The Magic Valley includes eight counties and
is known for a heavily agricultural and food
production-based economy.
With only one other beef processing plant
nearby, and that one focused mainly on cull
cows, True West Beef is the only processing
plant in the area for high-quality, fed cattle.
Before True West, most ranchers in the area
focusing on fed cattle had to transport them
a great distance to reach the nearest beef
slaughter facility.
" So, those ranchers have got more local
production now, " Theiler said. " You've also
got a sort of pride in having that in the valley,
which is really dependent upon agriculture.
The people have really supported this venture
20 MEAT+POULTRY | 04.23 | www.meatpoultry.com
Agri Beef, Schmeeckle Bros. Construction
and anyone else involved with the True West
Beef project appreciated the support as
building the plant through the pandemic was
no easy task. The supply chain issues the
pandemic caused put massive amounts of
pressure on the decisions and decision makers.
The timing of the project was not ideal.
" We were making decisions basically within
hours of being presented information because
either availability or price was going to change
dramatically within 24 hours, " Theiler said.
" So normally, you would not plan this way, but
COVID forced those type of decisions. "
At one point during construction, the team
was told a piece of equipment was nine months
from being available. Shortly after that, they
heard the same piece of equipment was 2½
years out. The team understood the need for
the unorthodox decision making and knew
they had to commit to it to ensure the plant
would ultimately be completed. The lack of
availability of materials and equipment also
created some opportunities for ingenuity.
Sometimes if things were just not available or
lead time was just too long, the team would
figure out how to build and install what was
needed in-house. Which also proved to be
useful when it came to financing.
Agri Beef and its partners felt from the
beginning the project fit the criteria perfectly
for the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion
Program (MPPEP). Agri Beef applied for grant
money for the project, confident that it was
what the USDA was looking for, but apparently
it wasn't.
" We received no funding for this project, "
Theiler said. " So, everything is coming from
our own investors and financing. No support
from the government. "
Despite the challenges Agri Beef and
its partner investors faced from every
direction, perseverance will pay off when
True West Beef begins production as Idaho
welcomes spring 2023.
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Meat+Poultry - April 2023

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