The Gateway Mill is under construction at Bullsbrook in Perth’s outer north. Photo: Overland Group

THE MERGER of Westpork and Dardanup Butchering Company has created a new Western Australian agribusiness, Overland Group, today named as the partner in the Gateway Milling project at Bullsbrook.

Gateway Milling is a $60-million joint venture with established stockfeed manufacturer Thompson and Redwood, and is expected to be fully operational early next year with an annual production target of more than 200,000 tonnes.

Sourcing grain directly from WA growers, Gateway Milling will enable Overland to capture efficiencies across its farming operations and meet growing demand from WA’s beef, chicken, pig, and sheep farmers.

Westpork is WA’s largest pork producer, while DBC is the state’s s largest multi-species meat processor.

Chairing the Overland board is Andrew Young, who was previously chair of Westpork.

Mr Young said building supply chain security and resilience for Overland and WA farmers was of vital importance for the new group.

“We see opportunities to ensure WA maintains and secures adequate processing and value-add opportunities, particularly as we transition away from live export,” Mr Young said.

“Our communities and governing bodies are becoming more aware of food security and influencing how we produce food.”

Overland chair Andrew Young.

Mr Young said Overland will embrace this shift in awareness, ensuring its operations meet growing demands and changing expectations across domestic and newly explored export markets.

“The consolidation of Westpork and DBC into Overland creates a strong platform for future growth across both brands, backed by strategic investment in market expansion, product innovation and new business opportunities.”

Mr Young said investment in extra capacity and strong contingency plans will help the meat industry better manage supply chain disruptions and challenges, and counter the WA pork industry’s limited processing capacity, as well as shoring up feed supply.

At its Picton plant east of Bunbury, Overland is currently working through planning and  environmental processes to double its meat-processing and value-add capacity, and will retain its multi-species licence, focusing on both domestic and export opportunities.

The proposed expansion adds significant capacity to the local custom processing market and paddock-to-plate producers, complimented by the addition of export sales.

DBC, as Overland’s processing and food service division, will play a critical role in the company’s long-term integration and growth.

DBC’s Picton facility near Bunbury is now part of the Overland Group following the merger with Westpork. Image: Google Earth

Westpork, which supplies more than half of WA’s pork, will build its fourteenth pig farm under Overland’s leadership.

DBC has been processing Westpork pigs for more than 20 years, and DBC intake from Westpork has grown to be more than 2200 pigs per week for its own use, and for service-kill customers.

Overland has appointed Neil Ferguson, who has been with Westpork for nearly 30 years, as its first chief executive officer.

Mr Ferguson said long-term partnerships, strong relationships, industry innovation, stockmanship, and sustainability underlined the Overland ethos.

Overland Group CEO Neil Ferguson.

“Ongoing development across quality, animal welfare and environmental stewardship are paramount as both Westpork and DBC enter their next evolution of growth,” Mr Ferguson said.

“As with all businesses, improving productivity while meeting increased regulation and oversight will continue to be a challenge, along with global trade uncertainty, and embracing and managing the impact of innovation such as AI and robotics.”

Capturing greenhouse gases via covered anaerobic ponds and turning them into renewable energy already powers several Westpork sites.

Overland intends to be fully on renewable energy by 2030.

The group is also investing in wastewater treatment, animal enrichment programs and sustainable farm upgrades.

Through both DBC and Westpork, Overland has had a long-standing relationship with Foodbank, via regular donations of quality meat products and meals.

More than 450 people in total are employed across the Overland brands in metropolitan and regional WA, including the South West, Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions.

Overland’s total revenue is currently in excess of $280M.

Source: Overland