The very first packing plant we bought processed 130 cattle a day. Currently we process 5,000 a day here in Canada. The hardest part for us to learn was that we couldn't compete with the bigger plants. The cost structure from a small plant is so much higher that they have to develop a very targeted niche to be able to survive.
So I think there's a multitude of issues that would have to be looked at. In all honesty, for the livestock producers, they probably see better returns to ship their cattle to the U.S., or from that district, and that should be their prerogative. They shouldn't have to only sell locally. You have to weigh all these consequences when you try to decide whether a facility will work or won't work.
The cost of running a small facility is really tough. I know when we were in that small facility, we looked at the big guys and we thought, how could this be? How can they be running Saturday and I'm not making money? Yet when we moved into XL at 1,000 a day, I started to see that. They were profitable and we were not.