Established in 2018, Western Game Processing is one of the key pet food mince suppliers in the area, sourcing their product directly from regional wild pig and kangaroo populations that have continued to flourish following recent rainfall across Queensland.
Managing Director of Western Game Processing, Ben Cameron, believes he will require an additional eight employees to meet growing demand for the product, with 20 to 30 tons of supplementary product expected to be processed this year.
Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Minister, Mark Furner, said 14 regional businesses were successful under the 2nd round of the Regional Economic Development grants program, with some enterprises receiving as much as $250,000 each.
“Some businesses will expand on infrastructure, increase sustainability and energy efficiency, or develop agricultural technology opportunities, while others will value add second-grade food product, expand into organics, or develop new systems of farming in their industries,” Mr Furner said.
Following the loss of over ten thousand jobs due to COVID-19, regional Queensland can expect more than 600 jobs to be created.
“All the projects will create new jobs for regional Queensland; in total 169 direct full-time jobs will be created, another 183 during construction and 299 indirect full-time positions will need to be filled to make these projects come to life.”
The proposed jobs boost comes as agriculture industries face the prospect of a farm worker shortage due to global travel bans that threaten to decimate the supply of foreign casual labor available for harvest work.
