COLUMBIA FALLS — Glacier Processing Cooperative off Highway 206 in Columbia Falls was officially formed in 2023 after a group of ranchers came together to purchase the processing facility when longtime owner Ron Vandevanter decided to retire.
Just two years later, the cooperative now serves the livestock processing needs for more than 40 local ranchers in Northwest Montana.
“It connects consumers with fresh, wholesome, clean product, it allows them to know the ranchers, to see where they are working, to know what they are getting, it’s a huge benefit all around,” said Glacier Processing Cooperative Board President Mark Siderius.
Watch to learn more about the Glacier Processing Cooperative:
Five ranching families in the Flathead came together in 2023 to secure a USDA-backed loan to purchase the processing plant. That purchase marked the beginning of Glacier Processing Cooperative.
“We had an established business, so many of the people that joined were already processing here and relying on this, and so it was a definite need to fill and definitely a business that we needed to save and keep going,” said Siderius.
Siderius said the cooperative is now home to 43 active members.
“Had this plant closed, most of us would be traveling a minimum of four hours away to find space to process animals, so it’s a great service to offer, it’s a great service for our community.”
Producer memberships are available for $7,000 each. Investment in the cooperative can also be made by purchasing non-voting preferred stock shares at $1,000 each.
The cooperative is USDA-inspected and a certified organic handler.
“So, in our case, we would never be able to process our own stuff in an economic way, so this is the only way we can do it; we had to join together with others and come here,” said Montana Better Beef owner Lisa Wade Mayorga.
Lisa Wade Mayorga is a fourth-generation livestock producer from Kila who raises grass-fed, certified organic cattle that they finish at the coop and market locally.
“So our product has to be dry-aged a little bit longer than other people's because of the grass-fed lower fat content, so they dry-age for us here for 21 days, and they cut and wrap all of our product and package it up and box it up for us.”
Josh Giffin owns Selah Farm in Creston and processes Red Angus beef at the cooperative.
“I’m a first-generation rancher, so I really wanted to connect with other ranchers and farmers and just get to know them better and see how they do things and see how I can learn the trade,” said Giffin.
Giffin said cooperative members work closely together to make sure the processing plant runs smoothly for everyone.
“Just all coming together, it’s not one owner, it’s all of us producers coming together and really making this thing work and making it tick, and we really have a desire to make it be successful because it’s very important for us in this valley to keep this place open.”
More information on the coop can be found here.
