Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
This is a project that has great hopes associated with it. The Border Line Feeders cattle feeding operation is now open for business.
The operation is located three miles south of Ceylon on Highway 6, and General Manager Ryan Thompson figures he has the best job he could ever hope for.
“I worked for Cargil Animal Nutrition as a feedlot consultant for three and a half years before I started here in September of 2005. I am from Carnduff, originally."
Thompson explains that the feedlot started taking cattle on October 14, 2005, and, within two months, they were up over 6,000 head. The feedlot is operating at capacity right now, and the plan is to increase production to 20,000 over time.
Here are some quick numbers to illustrate what it took to get the project off the ground: $84,000 in grant money; financing is in place to cover up to $1.7 million; Border Line Feeders has raised $1,501,000 in shareholder capital to date. There are 370 shareholders, mostly from within a 1,000-kilometre radius.
Now that the operation is running, fuel purchases to date amount to $17,907; there are seven full-time positions and two part-time positions; $95,748 has been spent to date on commodity purchases: barley, wheat, silage, supplement, hay and straw—the projected inputs budget is $1.5 to $2.5 million annually, spent mostly in local communities.
It has been a long, hard road for the project’s promoters, says Thompson.
“Border Line Feeders incorporated in 2001. They started in March that year and didn’t have the funding for construction in place until the spring of 2005. They spent four years doing business plans and raising the funds and capital in order to move ahead. When BSE hit, they basically lost a year and didn’t push quite as hard, but we have moved on since.”
Construction started on the feedlot in the spring of 2005. The first phase of construction was completed in October of 2005. An organization of this size creates many direct and indirect employment opportunities for local people and for former locals who want to return.
“For me," says Thompson, "the nicest thing was being able to come back to Saskatchewan and find opportunities for myself. There are not a lot of businesses like this that offer employment to people with my qualifications. It is great to be back. This is a great organization to be associated with—a good bunch of people, very tightly knit as well. There are always challenges within the beef industry, given the ups and downs of recent years. Managing the cycles and taking advantages of opportunities are what makes it exciting. Working with shareholders and neighbours to secure a local feed supply, I am sure we can grow this business locally.”