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Sustainable Beef Cuts Ribbon on North Platte, Nebraska, Beef Processing Plant

March 26, 2025

Six years in the making, new beef facility plans to start production at the end of May; company expects to process 1,500 head of cattle daily once fully operational in December.

Andy Hanacek

According to numerous local news reports, Sustainable Beef LLC has cut the ribbon on its brand new, greenfield, beef processing plant in North Platte, Neb. — a multiyear development and construction project that is set to begin operations in May.

The 550,000-sq.-ft. facility is envisioned to create competition in the meatpacking and beef-processing industry in Nebraska, giving ranchers an additional, more local option to send their cattle for processing. The solution was developed pre-pandemic and the project took off after retail giant Walmart invested in the company in 2022 to supply beef to stores in the Midwest.

The plant cost $400 million to build and is expected to be fully operational in December, at which point it will employ some 850 people and process 1,500 head of cattle per day. CEO David Briggs said that 140 of those workers will be hired in May, with the expectation that production will start at the end of that month.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.