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Cactus, Tyson, Argentina

Mike

Well-known member
Cactus Argentina has all the look and feel of a Texas Panhandle feedyard. After all, Cactus Feeders of Amarillo, TX, has worked since 1999 to introduce Texas-style grain finishing to South America.

The feedlot located on the northwestern edge of Argentina's Pampas region was the vision of Miguel De Achaval, vice president and general manager of Cactus Argentina. The former Cactus Texas employee has built the feedyard to a one-time capacity of 25,000 head.

Earlier this year, he saw the Cactus operation -- with the help of Argentine agricultural conglomerate Cresud -- take on a new look with the announcement of a joint venture with Tyson Foods of Springdale, AR.

The cattle-feeding venture was topped off when the trio immediately added an existing slaughter and processing plant to its portfolio. The aim is to create the first fully vertically integrated beef operation in Argentina with capital stock as 24% Cactus Feeders, 24% Cresud and 52% Tyson.

The new company expects to produce beef products for the domestic Argentine consumer -- and give Tyson access to high-value European beef markets. The plant is located 275 miles south at Santa Rosa, La Pampa. It will be Tyson's first participation in a beef operation outside of North America.

Developing a vertically integrated partnership has been one of Cactus' ultimate objectives in Argentina.

"We believe a vertically integrated system for finishing cattle and processing beef in Argentina is the perfect way to capitalize on the strengths of the country's beef industry," De Achaval says. "The commitment of this venture is to work with Argentine beef producers to offer a superior product at an affordable price."

The export-certified Santa Rosa facility presently has the capacity to slaughter and process about 9,500 head/month. Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson says the newly formed company expects to expand the plant's capacity to 15,000 head/month in the future.

"As part of the joint venture, much of the plant's production gradually will be converted from grass-fed to grain-fed beef; with cattle coming from the Villa Mercedes feedlot," Mickelson says. "This grain-fed product will provide increased access to important export markets in Asia, as well as the European Union (EU)."

Today the pens at Cactus Argentina are filled with a mix of company-owned cattle and customer cattle. Most of the feeders show a predominance of British breeding, led by black and red Angus and Hereford. Managers buy a significant amount of locally raised feeders for both the company, and feedyard customers -- mostly through a network of order buyers.

The customer base of the feedlot has been changing of late, spurred by drought; and more recently, government food price control policies. Animal ownership is evolving away from independent cow-calf and stocker producers to ownership by meatpacking companies and other large firms.

"About 60% of the cattle in the feedyard are owned by third parties," says Roberto Eizmendi, Cactus Argentina feedyard operations manager. "Of the beef produced from third party-owned cattle, about 70% is exported to the EU."

Eizmendi says there's even growing interest from large supermarket chains that are seeking to own and feed cattle, and retain ownership of the beef through slaughter and processing.

Cattle feeding everywhere carries with it inherent risks -- for even the biggest investor. Like your typical High Plains feedyard, the Cactus Argentina feed base is corn, pricing of which is a risky proposition anywhere these days, Eizmendi says.

But in a twist of government policies, last year's average corn costs were higher than today's average costs. It's all tied to the Argentine government's complicated scheme to keep domestic beef prices in check.

"Now, our cost for corn is going down," Eizmendi says. "The government is compensating cattle feeders for the corn we feed to help keep feeding costs down so we can produce lower-cost beef for the consumer." Under strict government oversight, the price-compensated corn can't be fed to animals producing beef for foreign markets.

Despite the price for such inputs as feed grains, Cactus plans to build another feedyard modeled after the Villa Mercedes facility, but located closer to the Santa Rosa packing plant.

"The idea is to grow in the country as Argentines continue to develop a taste for grain-fed beef," he says. "At this point, our competition is not other feedyards; our competition is the grass-finishing sector."

Tyson isn't the only foreign meatpacker making news in Argentina. Brazilian-owned JBS SA Friboi, which harvests 22,600 head of cattle/day in its 21 plants across eight states in Brazil and five plants in Argentina under the Swift Armour name, added a sixth Argentine meatpacking firm to its portfolio. Friboi is the same company that recently announced the purchase of the Swift & Co. U.S. holdings.
 

don

Well-known member
if tyson runs true to form with 52% ownership they'll operate at a loss until the minority shareholders get tired of pumping in more equity and then tyson will offer to take over completely. cargill does the same up here with grain terminals. they partner up with a group of farmers who contribute 49% equity; cargill manages the terminal to show a loss and then ends up being sole owner when the farmers can't continue to put up more cash. it will be interesting to see if some of the shareholders of ranchers' beef up here wind up owning the whole plant at a discount. there are a couple who just might have had this in mind all along.
 

Ben Roberts

Well-known member
don said:
if tyson runs true to form with 52% ownership they'll operate at a loss until the minority shareholders get tired of pumping in more equity and then tyson will offer to take over completely. cargill does the same up here with grain terminals. they partner up with a group of farmers who contribute 49% equity; cargill manages the terminal to show a loss and then ends up being sole owner when the farmers can't continue to put up more cash. it will be interesting to see if some of the shareholders of ranchers' beef up here wind up owning the whole plant at a discount. there are a couple who just might have had this in mind all along.


don, do you know if Paul Engler was an investor in Ranchers Beef. I know that he has offered financing, in other start-up plants, in Alberta.

Best Regards
Ben Roberts
 

don

Well-known member
i don't have any idea but randy might know. i can ask a couple of people who were investors over the next few days.
 
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