Meat+Poultry - April 2022 - 22

COVER STORY
In June of 2021, Naeve
family members were
joined by Keith DeHaan
of Food and Livestock
Planning, Brian Turner
of Central Confinement
Service and Iowa
Governor Kim Reynolds
in breaking ground on
Naeve Family Beef.
project. DeHaan helped with the background
research and introduced the family to
Rhonda Wulf, now plant manager at Naeve
Family Beef and integral piece to getting
the plant operational and building a team of
experienced people.
Wulf's background in beef production and
processing fit almost seamlessly into what
the Naeves are trying to accomplish with
their new venture. After receiving her degree
in animal science from South Dakota State
University, she went back to her family farm
to help raise registered breeding bulls to sell
and purchase back breeding calves.
" So, I worked on the feedlot side, similar
to what Andrew's [Naeve] family does, for the
first 12 years of my career, " Wulf said.
After finishing a Master's in Ag Business
from Texas A&M-Kingsville, Wulf worked
on the procurement team of Aberdeen, SD,
startup DemKota Ranch Beef. She went on to
work on the sales and marketing team with
brand development and as director of food
safety and quality assurance.
" I learned all aspects of that plant working
through those three different roles, " Wulf said.
" I left that plant at the end of 2019 and worked
with a couple of other smaller startups. One
was a plant expansion taken to the next level
and one was a startup that had been shuttered
for four years and we cleaned it up and
reopened it. "
With the feasibility study complete and
yielding positive results, key people and
22 MEAT+POULTRY | 04.22 | www.meatpoultry.com
financing starting to fall in place, construction
and equipment purchase began.
THE PLANT
Like any business venture, especially a new
startup that entails greenfield construction and
heavy equipment, there are challenges to face.
Naeve made a specific calculated risk early
on that put them in a great position relative
to the supply chain issues facing the country.
The family put down payments on equipment
over a year ago and hasn't had to deal with
construction delays due to shipping delays.
" It was a tough sell to the bank and tough
to swallow putting that much money down
that far in advance, but since then I'd say a
lot of the stuff has increased 50% or more in
price, and you can't get it in some cases, so
it's really paid off for us, " Andrew said.
The plant covers 22,000 square feet
including administrative offices and
wastewater treatment facility with the
processing operations at 15,000 square feet.
Approximately 55 to 65 employees will work
one shift Monday through Friday depending
on the efficiencies found once operations
have begun.
" The exact hours and how they'll flow
we're still working out, " Andrew said. " The
fab floor will start a little earlier in the day
than the kill floor. "
Operating capacity on the plant is
currently set at 50 to 60 head a day. The
Naeves had a few reasons for choosing
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