“Full circle.” That’s one way of describing the creation of one Kansas rural business, which is located in what was once one of the first state-inspected meat plants and is again serving the processing needs of Kansans.
Alex Parker is owner and founder of Circle P Processing, a meat processing facility in Waterville. He grew up in nearby Washington, where he judged livestock, meats and horses in FFA. After high school, he joined the Marines.
While stationed in Okinawa, he volunteered at a local stable. A farrier came to trim hooves and shoe the horses, and Alex became fascinated by this work. After finishing his service, he came back to Kansas and graduated from professional farrier school to become a farrier himself.
Using the initial of his last name, he adopted the brand Circle P. He also married Karly. They now have two daughters with another child on the way.
As Parker visited his various farrier customers during 2020, a question came up consistently: “Do you know anywhere we can get in to get our beef processed?” All the local locker plants were booked up for a year or two ahead.
