By CAITLIN CROWLEY
Rockhampton Regional Council has given Darling Downs-based cattle company Mort & Co the green light to build a world class feedlot at Gogango, 70kms west of Rockhampton.
The facility will house up to 40,000 head of cattle and will include a cutting-edge fertiliser manufacturing plant, using manure from the feedlot.
Mort & Co CEO Stephen O’Brien said the company’s decision to build its next feedlot in the Beef Capital was the right one.
“The work that we’ve done to get this far has been extreme but we have absolute confidence that the choice of our next feedlot being here in Gogango is the right decision,” O’Brien said.
“There’s cattle available up here, but also the amount of grain that’s going past. It makes sense.
“We don’t do things half done – we make sure that whatever we do, we do it well.”
Chairman Charlie Mort said the company’s overall investment would be close to $200 million, with construction costing around $90 million and another $100 million needed to stock the feedlot.
“We’re going to be producing 2500 head a week – 500 head a day, five days a week – that’s a decent number of cattle for these abattoirs up here,” Mort said.
Stephen O’Brien said one of the exciting things about the project was the expansion of Mort & Co’s fertiliser business.
“Our manure that’s generated through the feedlot, through the cattle, is then converted into granules – a unique granule that we can add additives to, to go into the different soils around Australia,” he said.
The company already has one fertiliser manufacturing facility on the Darling Downs which was an Australian first.
Rockhampton Mayor Tony Williams said Mort & Co’s development would add to the region’s reputation as Australia’s Beef Capital.
“We want to warmly welcome them to our region – this is a great announcement and one that we feel is going to benefit the local economy through 65 full time jobs,” Williams said.
“This is something that really does dovetail into our Beef Capital tag, with two major processors in the region, a major saleyards, Beef Week next year coming up and this will really build on that reputation.”
Further planning and approvals are still needed for the project, with construction expected to start in the second half of 2024.
