Scotty sat down with Trey Wasserburger of Sustainable Beef to get the latest on the project in North Platte. Follow Sustainable Beef on Facebook.
Podcast Transcript:
Scott Carlson 0:00
We're joined in the studio by Trey Weisenberger. From sustainable beef, Trey, thanks for coming in. Hey, man, good to see you. It's a busy time of year for cattle ranchers. It's always busy. Yeah. cattle ranchers, let's be honest. So thank you for taking some time to come talk with us. I just wanted to catch up with you. And let people know kind of what's going on with sustainable beef. It's been about a month since we last talked with you. So what are what are things looking like? How are things going,
Trey Wasserburger 0:23
um, you know, I, everywhere I go, I get, I get questions about what's going on with the plan, what's moving on here. And we're still in, in the CRA, which is Community Redevelopment Authority, who now the Chairman has been elected or appointed senator. And so we, we've got to fill that void. And we're still working on that I visit with the mayor very, very frequently, and we are on the same page and pulling the wagon in the same direction. And I feel like he's gonna make a great deal for the city because this is a marriage and a relationship between us both right. And I think Mayor Keller has done a great job representing the city and the concerns I have, you know, it's a billion dollar impact, and that's gonna, you know, do you want the growth of stagnation, or you do want the pain, the stagnation, or the pain of growth, because there's gonna, you know, choose your heart, right? Gonna be a little bit of both. And when a billion dollar impact comes down 800 new jobs, there's going to be some pain, some growing pains. So we're going to try to filter that as much as we can housing, and a lot of other issues, but we are working on it every day. I feel like this will be through the CRA in two or three weeks. And then that gives us the deed to the ground. And then we can move forward as a company and start building.
Scott Carlson 1:35
Yeah, I was gonna say once you get to that point, then the handcuffs kind of come off, you guys can do a little more. So let's let's fast forward, let's say you're through the CRA, what are some of the things that you can start doing at that point,
Trey Wasserburger 1:47
Obviously, so this is a wild figure and hard to even wrap your mind around, but we have to move 47,000 loads of dirt. Wow, to fill in that, you know, retired wastewater lagoon, which is a huge burden. And that's why it's a great deal for the city because who was going to spend, you know, 10s of millions just to get it to where we could build it. And that's really what the TIF money's for, is to you know, kind of set back some of those costs of the dirt. So there is some locals already getting some contracts and talking with our main contractor Smedley brothers out of Fort Morgan, Colorado to start moving dirt. And that'll be a process. You know, what's gonna take and we're looking at a two year build here guys, um, I so mean you probably have this conversation a lot. Next two years where we were going good. Yeah, so we're either the we're gonna be through the CRA here pretty quick. And then we can start you know, moving some dirt and the designs are done. I feel like this is gonna this is all gonna make it I got to tell North pie. This is gonna move pretty fast. Yeah, once we get through this weather, and becomes a little more favorable and longer hours, you know, daylight time, we can really start moving. So yeah,
Scott Carlson 2:58
It's good talking with Trey Wasserburg from sustainable beef TT Angus said, you know, it's obviously sustainable beef in big news around Southwest and central Nebraska. But it's also been big news nationally. I know you've been on Fox News. Yeah. Talk about what you're kind of here. We know. Governor Ricketts has been behind the project from the beginning. We know Markella hair. Kelleher is very favorable towards the project. What do you've been hearing kind of from on a national level though, because I know they've been reaching out to you.
Trey Wasserburger 3:25
Yeah, that's right. I mean, when's the last time that we had not one but our Northlight was on Fox News twice a week and I've stayed in contact with Laura Ingram and her show and we actually had the New York Times in North Platte last week I went out to the ranch and everybody loves our story. So I got to show them take them out to where my ranch where I live and show them the cow calving. And I drove 20 miles to our family feedlot South Hershey showed them cattle on test and then I showed them the site all within 40 miles North Platte, and they love our closed loop system here. So yeah, there's a lot I've had contact with the today show as well. And everybody's just kind of watching. This has never been done and I got told the other day by a nationally renowned cattlemen that train no matter where this goes, you should be proud because no one's ever got this far. And that's a compliment to North Platte for embracing this impact. You know, we went through Gary Pearson, told me that we went through 14 political processes, never got to no vote. And I'm really proud of North Platte for that that shows unwavering support. The mayor and city administrator Matt Kevin have really dug their toes in and gone to work for North Platte. And I'm really we should be very proud of them. And there's a lot of fortune 500 companies watching what how we're reacting and how we embrace this project because with economic growth comes challenges and they want to know if real America is going to embrace it. So how we react in the next six months is imperative for our success. I think the rail Park Bill obviously has a really good chance they're in the Union camera I testified for the ARPA funds for sustainable beef as well. That sounds like it's got great bipartisan support. You know, when's the last time I testified two weeks ago at the unicameral in, in regards to lb 783, which is the same old beef ARPA fund. And I had 20 Vargas who's a, who's a Omaha Democratic senator who has three packing plants in his district. And he he's on the Appropriations Committee, and he watched me testify and I had compliments, but both on both sides aisle, that's unheard of for me. And he followed me out and shook my hand. I said, I said, Senator Vargas, I just got to ask you. What's it like living with three packing plants here? District? Eight go, sir. I can't imagine life without them. And, you know, that's bipartisan support. Senator McConnell just picked up our bill. Because of the absence of our former senator, he had to pick up the bill by Tuesday, kind of a wild 10 days here in North Latin, but it wasn't hard to find support. So there's a lot of a lot of people gunning for this. I mean, this just doesn't impact on North Platte. This impacts the beef industry as a whole. The region, the nation, there's a lot of people watching what we're doing.
Scott Carlson 6:12
Yeah, for sure. Trey Wasserburger sustainable beat before we let you go, Trey, you mentioned you got to get through the CRA process. And then things that what is the timeline, though, that you guys initially gave he still kind of comp confident with that timeline as far as when we might see this plant in production.
Trey Wasserburger 6:29
Yeah, I think, you know, it'll be we're hoping for 2024. And, you know, when we started this, guys, this was pre-pandemic. And we're trying to do something that's never been done and be entrepreneurs and innovative in a global pandemic. And if you've, if you've turned on the news, last two days, the world's different not just in North Platte, but globally. Ukraine has a massive agriculture community, and commodities all over the board. And so we've had a lot of issues to go through it for, for Greenfield startup company. We've had to face incredible adversity. And this is that's a testament to our team and a testament to this town and community leaders that we were going to have to go through more than most to get this bill, I still think you'll see production in early 2024 spot for our producers to take their cattle as well as feeders. And I think that's the goal and we're gonna end it there's a I want to say this too. There's a lot of people not just in North Platte working on this but globally. I'm we're in contact with USDA almost every day nationally, okay, really want this to happen. And so there's a lot of people you might not see progress. And you know what, I'm the same way. But AG is not a short-term investment, right? It's just not you know, when I breed the cow I got my family is five years invested in that calf through the supply chain five years. Wow. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. So when things don't move as fast as we'd like, but there's progress every day and it's big battles and we will win the war. Yeah, a
Scott Carlson 8:02
lot of legwork. I know you and rusty put in a ton of work on this and like you said he didn't start the first time we saw yet the City Council this has been going on and then you as you mentioned, you've got COVID that came into play got federal funds going all over the place now. So yeah, it's a different country in a different world for sure but best of luck and we'll get you back in here once we get through the CRA process and start talking about breaking ground in dirt. Appreciate it thanks Trey Trey Watson burgers sustainable beef
Transcribed by https://otter.ai