2 Oklahoma tribes to build a bison meat processing plant

OKLAHOMA CITY — A tribal business official says two Native American tribes in Oklahoma are planning to build a meat processing plant in an effort to take a more active role in bringing the nations’ bison herd to the marketplace.

Nathan Hart, business director for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, says an eatery at the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum currently being developed in Oklahoma City could sell the meat plant’s first bison entrees.

The Journal Record reports that Hart says the U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected processing plant being built in El Reno will be chiefly for bison, but the planned 150-acre site will also take in cattle and wild game.

The tribes’ farming program already has supply chains for bison meat to be retailed in dozens of the region’s stores.

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Information from: The Journal Record, http://www.journalrecord.com

The Associated Press