The Quapaw Tribe opens the first ever USDA inspected beef and bison plant that is owned and operated by an Indian Tribe.

The tribe held the Grand opening today for the 5 million dollar facility. many federal and private agencies helped with developing the plant. Several Universities also assisted in designing the building to include a training classroom for students studying agriculture.

The plant will process bison and cattle, and distribute that meat as well. The facility is one of a kind in that it will process and produce the meat, which is unlike any other in Oklahoma.

Jim Reese, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, says, “We produce eight billion dollars worth of Ag products, but we don’t process nearly enough of it. So, this is really a great project. It’s actually one of our goals for the state of Oklahoma is to increase Ag processing.”

Along with a training classroom, the facility includes a test kitchen and a food safety laboratory.