Stock offered to nonmembers to help raise funds

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

The Cattle Producers of Washington organization is seeking members for its new slaughter facility cooperative, slated to open next spring in Odessa, Wash.

The cooperative is negotiating a lease and the purchase of land at an industrial park in Odessa, said Sue Lani Madsen, president of the CPOW Livestock Processors Cooperative Association.

The organization is selling common stock memberships to voting producer members and working on paperwork to offer preferred stock to others interested in investing. Interest is high, Madsen said.

CPOW must raise $400,000 in matching funds for a $1.2 million state Community Economic Revitalization Board loan for construction.

The cost of one share of common stock is $500, with annual dues of $100 and a $50 startup cost. Nonmembers will be able to use processing services, but will pay a higher processing fee.

For people who are members of CPOW and the new cooperative, processing fees are about $85 for cattle less than 30 months old, $100 for cattle older than 30 months, $50 for pigs and $40 for sheep. People who are only members of the cooperative pay $10 more, and nonmembers pay $20 more.

The organization is open to anyone in Washington and bordering counties in Oregon and Idaho.

University of Idaho sustainability director Darin Saul said he may use the cooperative's efforts as a case study for a research project on ways to increase revenues for small livestock producers.

"One of the bottlenecks for small operations is the lack of USDA-certified processing," Saul said.

Saul hopes the effort will be successful.

"I think the market's there, the supply is there, and they've been able to line up the financing, which is a stumbling block for most of these efforts," he said. "They're in as good a position as anyone can be in for making one of these work."

Madsen said the research project may prove useful to CPOW in terms of examining marketing and distribution.

Madsen said there have been rumors that the facility will only process older or culled cows, but that's not the case.

"We're really focused on high-quality processing for a demanding consumer clientele," she said. "We want to address that consumer desire for access to locally born, raised and processed food at every level."

Online

Cattle Producers of Washington: www.cattleproducersofwa.org

University of Idaho: www.uidaho.edu