For nearly two years the beef industry has been buzzing about the prospects of new harvest capacity planned or under construction that might provide new markets for cattle. None of that attention, however, was focused on Utah, where Henry Barlow was busy planning and constructing a new beef packing plant that opened at the end of last month.
Barlow’s background is not in the packing business but that has not deterred him. A general contractor with 35 years of experience working in Utah, Barlow has owned several businesses, including Hybar Windows and Doors and Rocky Mountain Concrete, a construction and excavation business.
He’s also owned multiple ranches and said he watched fellow ranchers wait anywhere from six to nine months to obtain harvest dates for cattle in Utah. Such delays are crippling to ranchers and feeders who have clients to serve.
“All the ranchers I know think about it and talk about (a packing plant) for the last 25 years saying somebody ought to do something,” Barlow says. “So, I sold one of my ranches and decided to be that guy.”
Utah Beef Producers’ new facility is designed to harvest up to 500 head per day, and Barlow says that will include a mix of cows and fed cattle. Once fully operational, the plant will employ 100 people. UTB will offer custom harvesting for local ranchers and feeders, but Barlow is also set to launch a branded beef product of his own, Horizon Heritage Farms, which will offer premium, locally sourced beef with complete traceability from farm to fork.
“Over 500,000 cattle leave the state every year to be fed out or slaughtered outside the state of Utah,” Barlow says. “But if you roll the clock back 60 years, we finished cattle in Utah and we need to do that again.”
With about 323,000 beef cows, Utah ranks 27th nationally, but Barlow believes the Richfield location is well-suited for the new plant with less shipping costs to the west coast than many of the major packers. Salt Lake City is 160 miles north and Las Vegas is 280 miles to the southwest.
“We’ll be able to satisfy so many Utah ranchers that have had to either sell their cows or send them off as calves and not do a finished operation because they did not have an option like this,” he says.
While Barlow plans the new plant to benefit producers, he’s also working with his community and utilizing state-of-the-art technology to minimize any environmental impacts. Utah Beef Producers’ focus is on sustainability, and the implementation of innovative waste management practices. That will include converting processing waste into biochar, a soil enhancer with the potential to reduce environmental footprint.
Barlow believes Utah Beef will be the first packing plant in the U.S. to make biochar onsite, which he says reduces methane gas in animals by up to 45% when used as a feed supplement additive. Additionally, an onsite wastewater treatment facility will help them recycle water and save an estimated 8 million gallons of water per year.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to be a powerful example for good,” Barlow says. “And one of the ways is sustainability.”
