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Unhappy with prices, ranchers look to build own meat plants

Rancher Rusty Kemp poses near grazing cattle on his Pioneer Ranch in this undated photo northwest of Tryon, Neb. Kemp has led an effort to raise more than $300 million from ranchers to build a processing plant for themselves, putting their future in their own hands. Crews will start work this fall building the Sustainable Beef plant on nearly 400 acres near North Platte, Nebraska, and other groups are making similar surprising moves in Iowa, Idaho and Wisconsin. (Todd von Kampen/The Telegraph via AP) FILE - In this June 10, 2020 file photo, cattle occupy a feedlot in Columbus, Neb. Frustrated with persistently low prices, ranchers and others in the beef industry are moving to reverse decades of consolidation and planning to open new slaughterhouses. The plants will be smaller than those owned by the four beef company giants that now slaughter over 80% of the nation's cattle. That has led to some skepticism about whether the new plants will succeed. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)
Unhappy with prices, ranchers look to build own meat plants