New Harvesting
Plant
Colorado Lamb, LLC
Colorado Lamb, LLC is a state‐of‐the‐art harvest facility
located in northeast Colorado, the largest lambfeeding region in the United
States. There has not been a new packing plant built in the region for over
thirty years. During the construction phase (2019‐2021), it was the largest
infrastructure project underway in the United States to benefit the American
sheep industry.
Similar to businesses across the United States, Colorado Lamb, LLC faced
significant setbacks and challenges due to COVID19 which pushed the
originally planned opening date of January 2020 to September 2020. Colorado
Lamb, LLC has a production capacity of 1,800 head/day. Due to very tight
supplies of feeder and fat lambs, the plant is currently processing
3,000‐3,600 head/week, and ready to ramp up harvesting as soon as more lambs
are available. The new processing plant gives western and mid‐western states
lamb producers and feeders expanded marketing opportunities for their lambs.
Keystone principles of this new and innovative plant include strict
adherence to all applicable federal/state regulations for employees; food
handling and storage; and best management practices for animal welfare and
humane handling.
The Colorado Lamb, LLC harvest facility will help alleviate the constricted
flow of lambs from pasture and
feedlots that bottleneck into the limited capacity of existing processing
plants. The bottleneck at the
packer level periodically creates a backup of lambs in feedlots and on
pasture, resulting in a less desirable
product when lambs must be held on feed and can't be harvested on time.
Because of the severe drought in the western United States lamb producers
are facing difficult choices
regarding feed and flock management. The Colorado Lamb, LLC plant provides a
harvest option that may reduce transportation costs for some western and
mid‐western states growers.
Colorado Lamb, LLC is meeting the USDA mandatory price reporting
requirements by transmitting
carcass trade on a daily basis, and packer owned lambs on a weekly basis.
# Accomplishment/Activity Relevance to Objective
Colorado Lamb, LLC was operational by September 2020
Objective: Colorado Lamb, LLC harvest
facility completed and operational by January 2020
Colorado Lamb, LLC has an operational capacity of 1,800 head/day on a 5‐6
day work week.
Objective: Reduce the amount of overfat lambs that enter the U.S. food
chain. Because of limited supplies of slaughter
lambs the plant is currently harvesting 3,000 – 3,600 head/week. A
contributing factor to overfat lambs in the U.S. food
chain has been limited harvesting capacity in the western United States.
Limited harvest capacity means that lambs are held on feed, much longer than
the optimal time to achieve ideal harvest weight, which results in heavy,
overfat lambs at slaughter time. The additional capacity of Colorado Lamb,
LLC to harvest 10,000 head/week will be a significant factor in reducing the
bottleneck as lambs leave pastures and feedlots and enter into the
processing chain.
Colorado Lamb, LLC is meeting the USDA mandatory price reporting
requirements by transmitting carcass trade on a daily basis, and packer
owned lambs on a weekly basis.
Objective: Enable USDA to meet confidentiality requirements and resume
Mandatory Price Reporting (MPR) for U.S.
lamb carcasses The current USDA regulations regarding confidentiality need
to be updated and adapted to the changing structure of the U.S. sheep
industry so that all segments have access to available market information.
At the present time, a very
small portion of the industry has control of a crucial amount of information
that USDA could be providing to all segments of the
U.S. sheep industry.
Colorado Lamb, LLC is currently specializing in sales of whole carcasses to
breakers.
Objective: Provide new source of U.S. lamb carcasses for the breaker
industry. Colorado Lamb, LLC is currently a supplier
to east coast breaker businesses and plans to expand its customer base as
lamb supplies expand and become more
cost‐effective.
Colorado Lamb, LLC was operational by September 2020. Colorado Lamb, LLC has
a harvest capacity of 1,800 head/day on a 5‐6 day work week.
Objective: Reduce packer concentration in the U.S. lamb meat industry At the
time of opening for Colorado Lamb, LLC there were only two other major lamb
packers in the western United States; so the opening of Colorado Lamb, LLC
has been a significant factor in reducing packer concentration in the
American lamb industry.
Lambs from the western and mid‐west United States are being harvested at
Colorado Lamb, LLC.
Objective: Create a more competitive marketplace for U.S. lamb The new
harvest facility increases marketing options for both lamb producers selling
live lambs and breakers/fabricators that are purchasing carcasses.
Lambs from the western and mid‐west United States are being harvested at
Colorado Lamb, LLC.
Objective: Reduce market volatility by expanding processing options
Currently, the western lamb market is experiencing a tight supply of
feeder/slaughter ready lambs due to the impacts of covid, drought, ethnic
demands on traditional supplies, etc.
However, historically seasonal production combined with not enough packers
in the marketplace periodically causes a backlog
of lambs in the feedlots and on pastures that cannot be processed on time,
creating an overfat, less desirable product.
Feeders and producers that do not have a standing relationship with a packer
when the pipeline is full, usually don’t have an
option to get their lambs processed on time. The backlog of unprocessed/overfat
lambs can cause the cash live market for
lambs to crash. Expanding the industry’s processing capacity should help
diminish the volatility of the cash live market.
Lambs can be processed in a more‐timely manner, and then placed in cold
storage. Cold storage vs. maintaining live lambs on
feed increases profitability through expanded flexibility in marketing; and
preserves the optimal quality and flavor of
American lamb.
All lambs processed by Colorado Lamb, LLC are Halal‐certified. Colorado
Lamb, LLC is in the final stage of completing its Kosher processing section
in order to begin Kosher sales by the end of the year.
Objective: Meet diverse consumer preferences by providing Halal and Kosher
processed lambs The ethnic/non‐traditional demand for lamb continues to
increase in the U.S. To help meet this growing segment of the market,
Colorado Lamb, LLC. processes all lambs harvested at the facility by Halal
certified standards. (This will exclude the lambs that are contracted to go
through the Kosher processing system when it comes online later this year.)
The live animal handling system at Colorado Lamb, LLC. was designed by
Grandin Livestock Handling Systems, Inc. and has
been installed. Dr. Grandin toured the harvest facility on October 12, 2020
and was pleased that the custom design for the plant
is working very well.
Objective: Provide excellence in animal handling and welfare standards Low
stress livestock handling ensures that lambs are being handled by humane
methods and helps ensure that consumers are receiving a high‐quality red
meat product.
Harvest facility tours have been conducted for U.S. Senator Cory Gardner and
State Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, U.S.
Representative Ken Buck, the American Lamb Board, and the Pawnee Prairie FFA
chapter. The American Sheep Industry Association had planned to tour the
plant for the 2021 ASI national convention that was scheduled for Denver,
but unfortunately the convention was changed to a virtual format.
Objective: Provide educational opportunities for students and organizations.
Providing plant tours and a discussion forum gives participants exposure to
important facts about livestock production, harvesting, and marketing. With
misinformation rampant on social media, it is important for students and
organizations to have the facts about harvesting, production, and marketing.
Accurate information increases consumer support for American Lamb, Colorado
Lamb, LLC. has worked with the
American Master Chefs Order to provide lamb for their educational program
American Lamb Series – Fabricating,
Cooking and Presenting Lamb. the importance of sustaining agriculture
production in the U.S.
Challenges and Developments
# Challenge or Development Corrective Action or Project Change
Construction Delay: Precast concrete walls
The company that manufactures the precast walls, delayed production to go do
bridge work in Nebraska. In 2019, Nebraska
had historic flooding beginning in March and continuing September. It’s
estimated that $3 billion in damage occurred to
infrastructure and property in Nebraska during the floods last year. As
important as it was to get the lamb plant built, we
realized it was more important for the concrete company to help our
neighbors in Nebraska recover from the devastating
floods (15 bridges were damaged or destroyed in the initial flooding in
2019).
Construction resumed immediately upon delivery of the precast concrete
walls.
Construction Delay: COVID19
After Colorado Lamb, LLC received the precast concrete walls, and began
picking up momentum again, COVID‐19 hit. As with most other businesses in
America, progress was severely impacted by the pandemic. Numerous
construction delays occurred as a direct result of COVID‐19 including road
paving, installing the gas and sewer lines, refrigeration equipment,
hydraulics, and other mechanical operating systems. Tragically, one
construction crew member died from COVID‐19 which further delayed
construction. Because of COVID‐19 delays, the equipment manufacturer in
Great Britain was unable to ship the pelt puller and supply chain until
later in the year. Construction was greatly hindered but proceeded based on
the availability of
labor, equipment, and materials.
Computer Software Design Delay
Because of the aforementioned delays, Colorado Lamb, LLC missed its
contracted time to work with Steve Heintzelman
(AskSteve, Inc). Heintzelman is the computer expert that is responsible for
making sure all the computer software
correctly interfaces with the plant hardware and equipment. There is no one
else in the United States with his level of expertise, and we had to wait
until he was available later in the year to get the management software
operational. As soon as Mr. Heintzelman was available, the software and
hardware at the harvest plant was integrated and operational.
Market Volatility and Lamb Supply Disruptions
Because of unprecedented market (live weight prices exceeding retail values)
and supply conditions (COVID19, ethnic demand
on traditional lamb commodity market, drought, increased production costs)
the current supply of lambs available for
slaughter is very tight. Because of the tight supply of lambs available to
packer at a breakeven price, processing capacity is below the plant’s
optimal level of 1,800 head/day. The plant is currently harvesting 800‐900
head/day, 4 days/week, and is looking forward to increasing daily harvest
rates and the fall run of lambs come off the mountains in the western United
States.
Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) and American
Meat Institute (AMI) training delays.
Due to the impacts of COVID19 on the construction schedule and labor force,
training had a delayed start. Quality
Assurance personnel currently working on a third party outside food safety
audit, Safe Quality Food (SQF) food safety
certification that is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI);
and is currently working on a USDA food safety
audit. Anticipated completion of audit procedures by December 2021. AMI
training estimated completion date October 2021.
Outcome and Indicator Results to Date
# Outcome/Indicator Quantifiable Results
Harvest Rate
Because of limited supplies of feeder/slaughter lambs the plant is currently
harvesting 3,000 – 3,600 head/week. When supplies improve the plant is ready
to harvest 1,800 head/day
Mandatory Price Reporting
Colorado Lamb, LLC is meeting the USDA mandatory price reporting
requirements by transmitting carcass trade on a daily basis, and packed
owned lambs on a weekly basis.
Upcoming Activities
# Activities Anticipated Completion
Complete the kosher lamb processing room October 2021
Complete perimeter fencing of the harvest plant facility November 2021
PAACO and AMI training, and SQF and USDA audit procedures December 2021
