More Central Oregon beef returning to your table soon with planned Madras-area meat processing facility
(Update: Adding video, comments from co-founder)
MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- More home-grown beef should be returning to Central Oregon shelves in coming years as The Symons Beef Company soon will start building a 40,000-square-foot meat processing facility on their property just north of Madras.
JoHanna Symons, co-founder of the business with her husband Jeremy, started a ranching and feeding operation in 2007. And it’s now set to move well beyond the cows and calves to become even more involved in every step of production, from ranch to table.
JoHanna Symons presented their plans recently to Jefferson County commissioners. She talked with KTVZ News at first last week, just before and after she met with Economic Development for Central Oregon and Central Oregon Community College’s Small Business Development Center, which she said are “helping me pursue a few grants” for the project.
On a visit to the ranch this week, Symons told us, "We feel it's very important to know where your food comes from - what goes into it, all of the logistics behind it."
A few years ago, Symons said, they were selling beef products at stores around the region, from Sisters Meat and Smokehouse to the Pump House in Prineville and Bend-area food cart lots, among others.
“I was dropping live cattle off at local butcher plants,” Symons said. “Everybody wanted more and more, and it got to the point where local butcher shops couldn’t handle the demand.”
Symons said Thursday, "It was so well-received that they just kept calling everybody. I was never turned away one time, and they just wanted more and more. And so I hope that's the same, you know - that I get the same result."
Back then, the couple decided that “until we can control that step of the process, harvesting of fresh frozen beef, we’re just going to stop altogether.”
And now, if plans stay on track, their dry-aged, premium local beef products will be back on local shelves by July of next year.
The new plant will process about 50 head of cattle a day and have coolers for up to 200 head, also helping other area ranchers who now must transport cattle out of the state for processing.
The business also plans to expand from the current 10 full-time workers and a few part-timers to 40-50 jobs with the new facility to start, hopefully growing to about 70 employees within three years.
One “tricky” factor Symons mentioned, in terms of construction, is the current trade situation with our neighbors to the north.
“We’re dealing with tariffs," Symons said. "It’s affected one of more most expensive pieces of equipment out of Canada. It’s made with U.S. steel, which is shipped north, then shipped back as a finished product.”
But with the large increase in cattle and production, the Symons farm and ranch will now have to prepare for more water use, at a time that seems nearly impossible.
"There are so many different avenues involved, and the profit margins are so sliver-thin. And it is incredibly risky," she said. "We have a pretty large farm that we grow all of our food to feed all these cattle. And so we're constantly struggling to get enough water to water that land. So it's very difficult. "
Jefferson County farmers have long struggled with water rights. The Symons receive much of their water from the Wickiup Reservoir, which is now 86% full. But in two years, the reservoir will be depleted to help with the spotted frog.
"The water situation will go back to being pretty catastrophic then, unless a lot of things happen and all the stars align to get that situation resolved," Symons said. "There are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of challenges. But I'm not afraid of a challenge, thankfully."
