While some well-connected Sioux Falls petitioners seek an ordinance to block construction of Pipestone System/Wholestone Farms’ proposed $600-million swine slaughterhouse in Sioux Falls, some real estaters in Rapid City want to spend nearly twice that money to employ more than twice as many people to chop up cows and bison south of town:
A $1.1 billion processing plant could be built in the Black Hills Industrial Park in south Rapid City, a realty company announced Friday.
Kingsbury and Associates and Sirius Realty of Rapid City and Greenville announced plans to construct an 8,000 head per day processing facility over three years. The 1-million-square-foot facility will process beef and a specialty bison line. It could also bring about 2,500 jobs to the area [staff, “Two Meat Processing Plants Coming to Western South Dakota,” Rapid City Journal, 2022.05.28].
Meanwhile, some ranchers scooped a little dirt last week to start their co-op’s own little slaughterhouse south of Hot Springs:
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held south of Hot Springs Wednesday for the United Ranchers Cooperative’s Dakota Territory Beef plant.
The rancher-owned facility will cost about $2-million dollars and could be open as soon as early next year.
…Each share of stock costs $25,000 and requires the buyer to bring in 25 head of beef for slaughter each year [staff, “Groundbreaking Held for Beef Plant South of Hot Springs,” KCSR/KBPY Radio, 2022.05.26].
Congressman Dusty Johnson attended the Hot Springs groundbreaking and offered praise and socialism:
While several elected officials were present, including state lawmakers Trish Ladner and Julie Frye, the only one to speak was Republican Congressman Dusty Johnson.
Johnson explained how the Dakota Territory plant is exactly the type of operation he’s trying to help with a grant-and-loan program that passed the House earlier this week. He also offered praise to the handful of ranchers who’ve led the project [KCSR/KBPY, 2022.05.26].
Congressman Johnson refers here to the Butcher Block Act, the provisions of which President Joe Biden’s USDA implemented last summer using American Rescue Plan funds. Johnson’s co-sponsor of the Butcher Block Act, Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, and other supporters say the point now of the Butcher Block Act is to continue Biden’s sensible socialism to help competitors enter the meat market and bust up the current concentration.. House Ag voted unanimously May 17 to send the Butcher Block Act to the full House. The bill would offer loans of up to $50 million to anyone starting a new slaughterhouse in a rural area, as long as the company does not process over 5% of the daily harvest of any species—i.e., the Big Four packers can’t get their hands on this money. Co-ops like the Hot Springs-are ranchers could get loans of up to $100 million. The Butcher Block Act also offers grants to promote competition and innovation in the meatpacking industry, but the bill appropriates just $20 million a year for three years of that free money.
So, what’s not to like about six (seven? eight?) month winters, rampant racism, chilling effects on civil rights, an extremist legislature, living in a chemical toilet, sacrifice zone, perpetual welfare state and permanent disaster area?
Now enforce the Packers and Stockyards of 1921, or better yet strengthen it by prohibiting any packer from processing more than 10% of the industry total.
Instead of these meat plants we could start growing peach trees in SD, to make peach tree dishes…
Imagine driving from Rapid City or Gillette and back for work in an effing ramen factory every day for $15 an hour especially during South Dakota’s eight month winters!
… and where will all these workers live ???
Founders Park in Rapid City had one of those slaughterhouses. Stunk big time. And then, like magic, it burned to the ground. Too difficult to start a flood. Man, that stink from this proposal would be offal…. Unless, EB5 Rounds can get the band back together again (minus Richard Benda on backups), but Joop is still in the loop, along with Jackley…Hell ya, call the Chinese and tell them the band is ready to play that same tune as is in Aberdeen at that huge huge facility.
Can’t these workers live in Hot Springs? Ms. Fairbank, what say you about this offal refactory popping up a wee bit away?
Let’s hope that Rapid City doesn’t rush out to become a “new” Sioux City, Austin, Lexington, or old Huron.
Let’s glance at energy, then emerging food technology.
South Dakota farmers and ranchers would do better if they produced more food (any food?); instead they grow feed and fuel. Feed and fuel only have economic value with massive subsidies: economic and social cost-transfer subsidies.
“Of all the wheat, rice, corn, rye, oats, barley, sorghum grown in the US every year a mere 10% is eaten by people. The rest is for animal feed and biofuels.”
It’s time to move on from the stranded 150-year economic model of corporate agriculture.
Plants make crappy solar panels.
“Plants convert approximately 0.023% of the sunlight energy they receive. A solar panel with 20% efficiency converts 20% of the sunshine it receives into electricity. The best solar panels on the market today can reach almost 25% efficiency. . . .to match the annual travel distance of EVs recharged from 1 acre of solar, requires 160 acres of corn converted into ethanol. (Even accounting for losses from electricity transmission, battery charging and grid storage.”
“Iowa uses 8 million acres to grow corn for ethanol. If Iowa put solar panels on just 50,000 acres that would generate the same amount of vehicle fuel as the 8 million acres of corn-ethanol. Plus no emissions. No fertilizers. No need to plant, water and fertilize a crop every year.
BONUS: Iowa would have 7.95 million more acres to grow food people can eat.”
https://leahy.substack.com/p/food-crisis-and-the-ethanol-connection?s=r
There are about 170 companies globally working on cultured protein. There are also many companies producing plant-based protein.
“The building of the world’s largest bioreactors to produce cultivated meat has been announced, with the potential to supply tens of thousands of shops and restaurants. Experts said the move could be a “gamechanger” for the nascent industry.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/25/worlds-largest-vats-for-growing-no-kill-meat-to-be-built-in-us
Rapid City’s and SDSMT’s engineers ought follow the call from 8 graduates at AgroParisTech graduation ceremony on May 10 to refuse to work on destructive jobs. https://cpnn-world.org/new/?p=27338
The fight to “regulate” plant based and cultivated meat rages. It’s funny how there is no fight over the different forms of milk.
https://www.fooddive.com/news/cell-based-cultivated-meat-comments-usda/623028/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202022-05-31%20Food%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:42099%5D&utm_term=Food%20Dive
“No surprise, the existing beef, pork, poultry and dairy producers are the ones complaining about how they won’t be able to compete. News flash, you guys can’t compete now without all the government subsidies, you’re afraid – and rightly so – that the plant based movement is going to eat. your. lunch.
Because really, if we sidestep aesthetic properties for a sec, how does traditional animal agriculture fare vs. plant/vat based?
nutritional content = equal
caloric output = equal
land use – plant/vat wins
water use – plant/vat wins
animal cruelty – plant/vat wins
animal waste/greenhouse gas emissions – plant/vat wins
The only thing a real steak has going for it right now is taste and texture. I remember the early veggie burgers: sawdust. Terrible, absolutely terrible. Now SimulateNuggs are a dead ringer for McDonalds. That taste and texture advantage will be gone in 10-15 years the way alt/vat and plant alternatives are improving.
In the alt-milk sphere, everyone just calls it milk. And while the US Dairy Farmers Association might not like it, absolutely no one else cares that Silk is “soy based MILK”. If it quacks like meat and looks like meat, f*cking call it meat.” tezoatlipoca via Reddit
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