AMG purchased the old Manildra Group abattoir at Cootamundra and, after five years of refurbishment, will be sourcing livestock from northern Victoria and across NSW to supply frozen and chilled beef and lamb exports to the United States, Canada, Japan and Korea.
Spokesman Mark Randell said the Cootamundra plant had been designed and built from the ground up, and was now engaging a workforce in preparation for the opening.
“The only thing still standing from the old works is a lamb kill floor able to handle 1000 lambs a day, but everything else has been stripped out down to the bare dirt,” he said.
“We are now processing at our Dandenong facility around 900 head a day in one shift; Cootamundra will build to process over 1000 per day over two shifts.”
Mr Randell was a key speaker at the Pasture Agronomy Service seminar at Wagga Wagga on July 27.
Founded in 2013, AMG purchased and refurbished the former Castricum’s Lamb processing plant at Dandenong and has transformed it to a new beef facility capable of processing 1000 cattle/day.
Mr Randell said AMG was keen to procure livestock from a wide area of NSW and northern Victoria for the Cootamundra plant.
“There is a big catchment area for Cootamundra, and we want to make sure people are aware of us,” he said.
“We are establishing new accommodation for 150 international workers to arrive and start in the near future.
“As it is a greenfield site, it will start slowly at 25 head a day, building up numbers over 90 days until we have access to the majority of export markets, including the US, Japan and Korea.”
Mr Randell said the internal fit-out included a cold store with a capacity of 7500 pallets, 4500 pallets of frozen product and 2700 pallets of fresh product. The beef chiller capacity is for more than 1000 head and a sorting chiller of 350 head. New stockyards can hold 1000 head under cover.
“The plant will be processing 1000 cattle, sheep, lambs and goats per day on a double shift and will be built to handle weight.
“We offer a flat rate on a basic grid of 5mm and above but aim to procure livestock that dress over 300kg.
“We are a 92 per cent hooks-based business with a small amount sourced from saleyards — we don’t do forward contracts but have client’s stock booked in through to December. We quote with the market price.”
