Nebraska ranchers Dean and Jared Lerwick have received approval from the Gering, NE, city council to build a meat packing plant in the city. The brothers intend to process 40 head of cattle per day five days a week at the site of the Packerland plant that has been shuttered since 2005.
“Our family lives in that area, our ranch is in that area. Just talking with the other producers there, in terms of finishing operations and feed lots, it’s one of the largest areas in terms of animals in the nation,” Jared Lerwick, who will be the meat company’s director of sales, told the Scottsbluff Star-Herald.
The Lerwicks plan for the processing facility to operate at 400 to 800 animals per month. They estimated the Packerland facility operated at about 400 head per day. The company will be staffed by about 10 to 15 employees to start, increasing up to 20 employees by the first year.
The Lerwicks operate Pumpkin Creek Ranch and plan to call the business Pumpkin Creek Meat Co. After obtaining the city council’s blessing they said they will now work to secure an investor group to get the business started.
“If we can do that now, we can start building in the fall. If we can start building in the fall, we’re looking at spring is when we would open,” he told the Star-Herald.
