The idea for Keystone Processors Ltd. came about during hard times. It was 2003 and Manitoba cattle producers were facing the worst crisis in living memory. In the wake of an Alberta-based BSE scare, the U.S. had closed the border to Canadian beef exports leaving Manitoba producers virtually shut out of the major beef processing plants in Alberta and Ontario. The handful of small provincially regulated facilities in Manitoba were unable to pick up the slack. Cattle prices plummeted and hundreds of family farms were put at risk.

The situation wasn't ideal to start a new beef company, but Kelly Penner, a beef producer from the Brandon area, decided there was no time to waste. He was spurred to action  one morning as he awoke to the sound of his clock radio ahead of another busy day on the farm. He lay there for a minute listening to a story on the early morning about North America’s big beef companies making huge profits while individual producers were being forced out of business. Penner had always approached farming as a business and he saw there was a need to change the way he was running his own farm.

Necessity is the mother of invention, after all, and it was clear to Penner that he and his fellow producers needed to own a bigger part of the value chain. He understood that the only way for producers to remain profitable and to remain on their family farms was to the have their own processing facility.

Before long, Penner was talking to fellow producers Rob Harms, Keith Jury and David Hamilton. They all agreed that the old model of solely raising cattle was broken. The four of them began meeting with other producers around the province and soon had a group of nearly 50 who were ready to invest in a new venture.

The group first formed Natural Prairie Beef, a Manitoba company devoted to raising and marketing hormone-free and antibiotic-free cattle. The company immediately began laying the groundwork for its future. They saw that the only way producers had a chance to survive in the long-term was to share in the profits from gate to plate. The company started planning to create a new beef slaughtering and processing facility in Manitoba.

One of the biggest challenges was to ensure the company was adequately financed. The producer-owners invested millions of dollars to get the project off the ground. The company also began working with the Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council, which administers an investment fund seeking to finance new slaughtering capacity for Manitoba. The MCEC is funded by $2 per head levy on all Manitoba cattle sold. That money is matched by the government, which has created a large fund able to move quickly to support initiatives that will strengthen the provincial cattle industry.

In 2007 and 2008, MCEC invested $2.4 million into Keystone Processors Ltd., which allowed the company to purchase its plant and begin the necessary upgrades. Renovations began in 2008 and are expected to be completed by 2010. The facility will begin processing beef for the Manitoba market in 2009 with slaughtering capacity for up to 500 head per day to come on stream in 2010. Once complete, the company expects to meet or exceed all Canadian Food Inspection Agency protocols allowing it to create new branded beef programs for our markets.

Keystone’s founders believe strongly that Manitoba families are looking for great tasting, locally produced food products for their tables. So we're focused on raising the best quality cattle with the benefit of top notch farming practices as well as Manitoba’s wide-open grazing land, clean air and water.

The end result will be better quality that you can taste...we know you’ll be proud to serve Keystone products to your friends and family.