HDRider
Well-known member
Valley Oaks Steak Company had barely gotten the light switches figured out on their state-of-the-art meat processing facility when they succumbed to anti-ag activists last month. Following a year of harassment, threats and lawsuits they announced Aug. 19 they were ceasing business.
Ironically, the family-owned feedlot and meat processing plant, located 30 miles east of Kansas City, was designed as a sustainability, environmentally-conscious, socially-aware, locally-grown foodie's dream. "We did everything 'they' wanted," says manager Jake Huddleston, even installing an observation deck over the kill floor. The cutting-edge processing plant is owned by the Ward family, noted Angus cattle breeders and area real estate developers. It was built in 2016 alongside the largest covered feedlot in Missouri that has a capacity of 900 head. Cattle were fed, finished and then walked to harvest in a one-site, low-stress environment. The meat was sold off the farm.
It was as close as a family, a farm and a fork have ever been.
Leading the lawsuit was the 1,000-acre Powell Gardens, a botanical garden community four miles from Valley Oaks, in partnership with a variety of anti-agricultural groups and a deep arsenal of misinformation. Statements from opposition claimed they were certainly pro-farming, just "not here." Signs posted read "No to Valley Oaks – Farms not Factories."
After over $1 million in legal fees in one year the burden was too much. "It's crippling," says Huddleston. "How do you work that into your P&L?
https://www.tsln.com/news/never-enough/
Ironically, the family-owned feedlot and meat processing plant, located 30 miles east of Kansas City, was designed as a sustainability, environmentally-conscious, socially-aware, locally-grown foodie's dream. "We did everything 'they' wanted," says manager Jake Huddleston, even installing an observation deck over the kill floor. The cutting-edge processing plant is owned by the Ward family, noted Angus cattle breeders and area real estate developers. It was built in 2016 alongside the largest covered feedlot in Missouri that has a capacity of 900 head. Cattle were fed, finished and then walked to harvest in a one-site, low-stress environment. The meat was sold off the farm.
It was as close as a family, a farm and a fork have ever been.
Leading the lawsuit was the 1,000-acre Powell Gardens, a botanical garden community four miles from Valley Oaks, in partnership with a variety of anti-agricultural groups and a deep arsenal of misinformation. Statements from opposition claimed they were certainly pro-farming, just "not here." Signs posted read "No to Valley Oaks – Farms not Factories."
After over $1 million in legal fees in one year the burden was too much. "It's crippling," says Huddleston. "How do you work that into your P&L?
https://www.tsln.com/news/never-enough/