SD Farmers Union Seeks To Buy Aberdeen Beef Packer

The South Dakota Farmers Union is seeking investors to help purchase the DemKota Ranch Beef packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D.

According to a report in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the South Dakota Farmers Union is working with its counterparts in Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana and looking to join with beef and dairy cattle groups in the region to make an offer on the plant.

DemKota Ranch Beef has suffered under the strain of coronavirus cases among employees, and is currently owned by a San Francisco, CA,-based investment firm.

White Oak Global Advisors bought the beef plant at a 2013 auction as part of the bankruptcy proceedings of its previous owner, Northern Beef Packers. The California company formed a South Dakota-based limited liability corporation to run the plant.

The plant has a capacity to harvest 1,200 fed cattle per day.