RONAN — Plans for a tribally owned meat processing plant advanced Wednesday night with Ronan City Council approving an annexation for a 31-acre plot of land.
The plant’s tribal ownership would be the first of its kind in Montana with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes having evaluated sites and developed plans for the plant over the past four years.
CSKT is applying for a $7.1 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant for the meat plant. The grant focuses on supporting the meat processing capacity of indigenous animals in Indian Country. The tribes plan to contribute $2.16 million of their own funding if the application is fulfilled.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Land Use Planner Janet Camel presents plans for a tribal meat processing plant at a packed public hearing in Ronan City Hall Wednesday night. The 3-acre plant would focus on wild game and bison, as well as beef and pork, to help improve food security on the Flathead Reservation.
“We want to go after this opportunity because it might never come again,” CSKT Land Use Planning Director Janet Camel said at a public hearing on the annexation Wednesday. “This is a desperately needed facility for the Valley.”
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The state- and federally certified plant would focus on wild game and bison, in addition to processing beef and pork. The facility itself is planned to be on three acres with the ability to process 18-25 animals a week.
According to Camel, the plant would improve food security on the Flathead Reservation and allow for culturally appropriate ways of preparing meat. Additionally, it would plug economic leakage in an area where locally raised livestock is often shipped out-of-state to be processed and then returned to Montana.
“We’re losing a lot of money in the ranching business, because ranchers sell their calves and cows at a reduced price,” Camel said. “They sell to brokers who in turn sell to the big packing plants with the middleman making all this additional profit. And that’s why you often pay much higher prices for meat that you buy in a store than you would if we processed it locally, and didn’t have all those transportation costs from here to Nebraska.”
There are currently three meat processing plants in Lake County. A recent study examining demand for another facility in the county noted a year-long wait time for processing at some plants.
CSKT currently owns the 31 acres used for hay and crop production at the intersection of Mink Lane and Main Street in Ronan where the plant would be built.
The approved annexation allows connection to the city’s water and sewer systems, instead of constructing a separate well system for the plant.
Given the site’s proximity to town and housing, the facility would use a composting method that has very little smell. It is modeled after School House Meats in Missoula, which has been in operation near Big Sky High School in Missoula since 2019.
Additionally, Camel said there are no plans to slaughter animals at the plant, except potentially for cattle.
“We’re looking at processing indigenous animals that are killed in the field because that’s more humane for them,” Camel said. “They get stressed out if you try to transport them and then try to bring them to a facility.”
Plans for the meat plant would be contingent on the success of the grant. Camel said while it’s a competitive grant, the tribes feel confident about the chances of receiving the grant given the years of planning already invested. Award announcements come in November. A successful grant would then initiate an expected two-and-a-half-year-long construction process that spring.
The Ronan council ultimately approved the plans for the annexation 4-2 after a standing- room-only public hearing. Some residents questioned the potential of noise or smell that could arise by the processing facility.
Plans to enter into a cooperative agreement with the CSKT to address any problems from the space were approved. CSKT Tribal Council President Tom McDonald owns land near the property and said he would be willing to work with the city to attend to their concerns.
“As a tribal council representative, I can certainly say we would modify whatever is built and operated to make sure that the odors are taken care of, because I would want that for me and really for anybody,” McDonald said. “But it’s a good project. Anytime you have a small plant like this that helps keep our ag community going and provide local jobs for the community, it’s a win-win for me.”
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July 16, 2023 at 07:00PM
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Montana tribal-owned meat processing plant plans advance - Missoulian
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