A groundbreaking on Saturday signaled the start of construction for the Alleghany Highland Agricultural Center. Scheduled to open in December, the facility in Monterey, Va., is expected to cut transport times for farmers shipping beef, pigs and sheep for slaughter and add value to meat that leaves the county, reports The News Leader.
"If we can process that meat here and send it out on trucks as steak, you get a lot more value off the truck," said Lloyd Bird, a part-time farmer and a member of the board that organized fundraising the planning for the center.