EXPANSION works at Mort & Co’s beef feedlot in the Darling Downs are set to help efforts to help boost efforts to export more meat overseas.
Mort & Co is at Grassdale, west of Toowoomba, close to Wellcamp Airport and less than two hours’ drive to the Port of Brisbane.
The expansion has been supported by the Queensland government’s Jobs and Regional Growth Fund.
Minister for State Development Cameron Dick said Mort & Co’s operation is now Australia’s largest operational feedlot, with capability to turnoff upwards of 200,000 cattle a year.
“Beef processing is one of our state’s largest manufacturing industries, employing around 10,000 Queenslanders, and our government is committed to its continued success,” Mr Dick said.
In line with the Grassdale expansion, Mort & Co have brought online their own gas-fired power plant, a move that is expected to allow them to meet their individual power requirements and become a net exporter back into the grid.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development Mark Furner said Mort & Co were also building a new fertiliser pellet manufacturing facility, which is set to be delivered in the first half of this year.
“In a first for the Australian beef industry, Mort & Co will use innovative technologies to convert 60,000 tonnes of manure into high-value granulated fertiliser pellets,” Mr Furner said.
“This process will provide the feedlot with an environmental solution to waste issues, while also generating a new form of revenue for the company.”
Mort & Co executive chairman Charlie Mort said the prolonged drought across Queensland and NSW made it imperative the feedlot industry continued to grow. “This will ensure a consistent supply of quality products for beef markets, both export and domestic,” he said.
