One of Australia's largest sheep meat processors has bought an entire motel as they grow desperate to house abattoir workers.
Katanning-based WA Meat Marketing Co-Operative (WAMMCO) hopes to build a mining-type village and recently purchased the Katanning Jumbuck Motel as a starting point.
The goal is to boost production amid the backlog of sheep currently waiting to be processed in WA.
The state is currently experiencing an oversupply of sheep, and processors are unable to get through them with capacity and staff limitations.
WAMMCO chairman Craig Heggaton said the extra staffing would add a second shift to the abattoir.
"We're prepared to make the necessary moves that we can be a bit of solution in the oversupply in the sheep market at the moment," he said.
"We're looking at spending somewhere between $70 to $80 million to upgrade both the plant and also some extensive accommodation facilities so that we can attract more staff."
He said by building a worker camp, the cooperative would be able to house up to 200 more workers.
The time frame of construction is still uncertain.
"We're still getting all the costings together, but we're thinking within 24 months to, you know, to 30 months, depending on how things go," Mr Heggaton said.
WAMMCO orders are completely booked out until the end of June.
Backlog bites
Sheep producers are feeling the pinch of the processing backlog as the phase-out of live export looms.
Murray Blight, who runs a sheep feedlot in Highbury, 250 kilometres north-west of Albany, said the meatworks were going to need to expand substantially.
"If you phase live export out, they're going to have to bring a truckload more workers in because there's no way they can handle the sheep that are here now," he said.
Western Australia produces millions of sheep, and Mr Blight said without the live export market as an option, producers would need to seek the few available alternative markets.
"There's still a lot of sheep out there to be moved, and it's a very, very limited market," Mr Blight said.
"A lot most people are reducing numbers heavily and talking, talking down on the market, basically, and not looking at a bright future like 12 months ago, it was a whole different ball game."
Shire support
The Shire of Katanning has said it supported WAMMCO's plans to expand.
With no current rentals available in the town, Shire President Liz Guidera welcomed the motel purchase and said she was in favour of a future worker camp.
"There is a real shortage of accommodation in Katanning, and so this would be a really key strategy for them to be able to bring on the second shift," she said.
"The Shire of Katanning has been talking with WAMMCO for about the last 12 months about doing a camp adjacent to the current works."
"We're certainly encouraging and helping them with that in a planning sense," Ms Guidera said.
