$50m feedlot in Wheatbelt to create 60 jobs at Harvey Beef

A new $50 million feedlot to be built in the Wheatbelt will allow for the expansion of WA’s biggest beef producer Harvey Beef.

The feedlot in Koojan will allow for Harvey Beef to process an extra 60,000 cattle a year.

It will be built on 7000ha of land near Moora, 300km north of Harvey, and will be the “most innovative, cost efficient and high-quality cattle operation in WA”.

Harvest Road will build a 40,000-head feedlot facility. Along with Harvey Beef, Harvest Road is part of the Minderoo Group owned by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest.

Group communications manager Tess Ingram said the Koojan feedlot would result in an expansion of jobs and shifts at Harvey Beef.

“The flow-on effect is expected to create 60 new jobs at Harvey Beef,” Ms Ingram said. Feedlots are yarded areas where cattle are confined prior to being processed.

Food and water are supplied to the animals until they reach a specific weight, ensuring consistent meat quality and quantity.

Feedlots often raise concerns from animal welfare groups, however the company has ensured the new facility will use leading animal welfare practices. Harvest Road said it would raise cattle on nutritional feeding programs as well as implement a free-range-inspired model.

The world-class cattle facility is expected to develop lines of WA premium beef for local and international markets.

It will also give producers an opportunity to sell cattle year-round in the premium and super-premium markets. The project was announced in December 2018, with the first stage of construction pencilled in to start next month.

The first stage would accommodate 40,000 cattle at a time, supplying 60,000, 100-day grain finished cattle each year for processing in Harvey.

There will also be a second stage of the project, which is expected to start in 2023, which would double the stage one capacity.