Helena-based Old Salt Co‑op outlines plan for federally inspected meat plant, cites zoning and inspector shortages as hurdles

Cole Mannix, president and founder of Old Salt Co‑op, told the Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee that his Helena company is pursuing a federally inspected processing facility and expects the project to cost about $7,000,000.

The project would include slaughter through fulfillment and initial estimates place peak weekly capacity at about 150 head, with a likely “sweet spot” of roughly 60 head per week, Mannix said. “This project is about 7,000,000 by the time you pay for the land and and all the improvements,” he said.

Mannix described Old Salt as a producer-owned business that currently operates small-scale processing, two restaurants in Helena and a direct‑to‑consumer shipping route. He said the co‑op now works with five member ranches covering about 200,000 acres and roughly 6,000 mother cows; the business employs…