newsminer.com

Photo by Sam Harrel

Photo by Sam Harrel

Photo by Sam Harrel

FAIRBANKS — Sheathed in a clean white coat, butcher Morrie Wright guided a side of yak into the breakdown room, steering the red, marbled slab dangling from a hook and pulley.

Securing the 125 pounds of hanging yak, he grabbed a sharp knife with a foot-long blade.

Easing the steely blade between the yak’s ribs, he separated the front shoulder, or chuck, from the choice steak cuts on the meaty hind end.

Quick motions with a toothy saw severed the spine.

He then made his way to the processing room at Tanana Valley Meats, where smaller knives with equally sharp blades broke meat from bone and gristle, honing the slabs into cuts destined for the frying pan or grill.

The yak is the second this year to come through the processing business outside North Pole. More often, butchers are busy transforming cattle, hogs and wild game into dinner-ready cuts. The occasional lamb or goat joins the regular suspects in the freezers.

“Everything but fins and feathers,” Wright said.

Tanana Valley Meats’ mainstay comes from area agricultural producers who raise herds for meat.

Now, many of those same producers are at the helm of the business and committed to securing its position as a leading processor for years to come.

Some of those producers, along with interested investors, are buying the business under the name Agricultural Investors LLC to ensure the future of one of two processing plants in the Interior.

Scott Miller, who owns Misty Mountain Farm near Delta Junction, is part of Agricultural Investors and was elected board chairman last month.

He’s used the processor for years to slaughter and refine cattle and domestic elk.

“It is a vital piece of infrastructure,” Miller said. “Failure is not an option. We are going to move forward and make this work.”

The business started as BY Farms, a custom meat processing plant. In the early 2000s, the plant was upgraded and certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When the owners went out of business shortly thereafter, producers realized they couldn’t let one of the Interior’s two processing plants disappear.

Mark and Kay Sanders took the lead in consolidating a group of producers and investors into a limited liability company, which they called Agricultural Investors LLC, that could take over operations more quickly than a cooperative, Miller said.

Eighteen investors stepped forward, buying shares in the LLC and raising cash to buy the facility and accompanying acreage.

With time running out and red tape strangling Agricultural Investors’ plans, the Sanderses jumped in to purchase the business, which they called Tanana Valley Meats, as a short-term bridge. They managed the plant for the 2007 fall season, and in the summer, ownership transitioned to Agricultural Investors.

Tim Beck is the board secretary and treasurer. He said producers will take a more active role in plant operations, and the board is committed to offering a new level of service to everyone who uses the business.

“Our goal is to keep this plant available for not only the agricultural producers, but also the sportsmen,” he said.

“This is not about making money. This is about keeping the facility as a service to the residents of the Tanana Valley.”

Producer input is crucial for long-term success, he added. After all, they are the ones who know what they need and when.

“It’s like making hay,” Beck said. “When your crop is ready to harvest, you can’t put it on hold. You have to take care of it when the sun is shining.”

Now, Miller and the board of directors are developing plans to upgrade the facility. The end goal is to offer infrastructure that allows for greater food security, while giving producers the tools they need to turn meat into money.

“Has it ever seemed more important to develop a food-processing industry?” Miller asked. “Without that processing plant, that animal on the hoof does not have a value. But once that animal is processed into meat, it has a value.”

The original plant is old and will require upgrades for greater efficiency. Miller and the board also will refine a mission statement, improve customer service, recruit new investors and reactivate the plant’s USDA certification.

In the long term, Miller said he hopes to generate support and revenue to reconstruct outdated parts of the plant and establish meat contracts with pipeline construction camps and others.

The board is planning a mid-December plant shutdown to give a little room to regroup and restructure.

“We have a serious gearing-up phase to go into,” Miller said.