BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — A plan to build a slaughter house that produces beef jerky could keep Kentucky ranchers from shipping their cattle out of state.
Building the 245,000-square foot facility would cost $115 million and create 740 direct jobs, according to Texas consultant Rod Bowling. Bowling was speaking at a recent meeting of the state Agricultural Development Board.
In all, Kentucky has about 1.3 million cows that, when it comes time to finish and then slaughter them, are all shipped out of state, The Daily News in Bowling Green reported. Kentucky's Agricultural Statistics Service estimated that south-central Kentucky has 127,000 beef cattle.
Bowling said instead of selling feed cows to another state, farmers could keep them here a little longer, using horse pastures to sustain them.
He said raising and processing cows in the state can add $135 to the value of each cow. The entire cow would be used to make jerky, leaving little waste.
The South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. and the McCreary County Economic Development Authority, along with the Ag board, contracted for a feasibility study to see whether such a facility could be successful in this state.
Bennie Garland, CEO of the electric cooperative, said he would like the facility to be built in the electric cooperative's 13-county service area, which includes nearby Cumberland, Clinton, Russell and Adair counties.
"We've got farmers calling us now wanting to sell us their cattle," Garland said.
Kentucky wouldn't have enough cows to provide for the plant year-round, so other cows would need to be shipped in as well.
Ag board members said they would like to have Bowling and Garland back to a planning meeting in November to further discuss the study.
