"Twiggy's" influence sees Harvey Beef grow

Harvey Beef will employ at least 50 more people this year as the business continues to grow under the ownership of mining magnate Andrew Forrest.

Mr Forrest brought the Harvey-based meat processer last year for an estimated $40 million and runs it through his agribusiness, the Minderoo Group.

The group’s head of agribusiness John Hartman said a strong 2015 for producers on the back of good cattle prices had meant a profitable year for the industry.

“We are looking to continue to work with Harvey Beef’s producer base to continue to allow them to invest back into their herds and grow over time, ” he said.

“There is a lot of positives for producers.”

Mr Hartman said the strong position of the company had allowed it to improve its facilities.

“We are investing significant funds into improving the efficiencies of the plant as well as our retail packaging facilities, ” he said.

“We hope to employ more people. In the next year we will look to increase by about 50 people.”

Last month The West Australian reported that Harvey Beef made a net profit of more than $3 million in the first full year of operations under the ownership of Mr Forrest.

According to the report the company now carried cattle worth more than $10 million on its books.

Mr Hartman declined to comment on the profitability of Harvey Beef, but said the company’s grain feeding program it had put in place accounted for most of the increase in cattle.

Last month the Minderoo Group set up a multi-purpose depot yard south of the Minderoo Station, which will allow producers in the Pilbara to draft, weigh and process cattle destined for Harvey Beef.

Mr Hartman said the yard was still in its early stages.

“It is still in the commissioning stage, ” he said. “We see it as providing additional options for our Pilbara producers. There is now a depot they can drop cattle off to in their own backyard.”

Harvey Beef processes an estimated 140,000 head of cattle a year for domestic and export markets.