Overland Group will undertake a $65 million expansion of its abattoir near Bunbury to help meet demand for sheep meat processing.
Overland Group will undertake a $65 million expansion of its abattoir near Bunbury to help meet demand for sheep meat processing.
The parent entity of Picton-based Dardanup Butchering Company on Wednesday revealed the $64.8m investment, backed by a $5m grant from the state government.
The expansion will double the plant’s capacity and enable it to process 80 per cent more sheep per hour. The facility would also become accredited to export to non-halal markets.
Overland Group chief executive Neil Ferguson said the project was one of the largest undertakings in the sector for many years.
"This is the result of years of planning and a deep commitment to the long-term future of WA's food and agriculture sector," he said.
"The live sheep export transition presents real challenges for producers across our state. They need modern, accessible processing infrastructure they can count on. This investment is our commitment to providing exactly that."
Some 52 construction and 86 operational jobs will be created by the project. Overland Group said processing access for more than 100 small producers would remain open during construction.
Construction is due to begin in April and wrap up in mid-2028.
Overland Group was formed in October 2025 via the merger of Dardanup Butchering Company and Westpork, which together employ about 450 people.
More capacity is required in Western Australia’s meat processing sector to meet export demand, and account for the ending of the live sheep export industry in mid-2028.
Belvedere Valley was granted a licence for a micro-abattoir near Manjimup this week to offer a local service kill to producers, and a large service kill abattoir is being proposed at Mount Barker.
Nine of WA’s abattoirs are currently closed and, of those, only two have given indication that they will reopen.
Those are the Kimberley Meatworks near Derby and the Goodchilds abattoir in Australian.
Minerva Foods Australia’s mysterious closure of its two sheep processors in Tammin and Esperance has been the highest profile exit.
The company has not answered years of questions from Business News and has still not told shareholders in any information presented to the Brazilian stock exchange that its facilities in WA are mothballed.
