The Rockdale feedlot and abattoir not only satisfies meat eaters across Australia and overseas, it nourishes the Riverina town of Narrandera like no other institution.
It is an extraordinary agricultural factory that transforms vegetable protein into meat protein on a vast scale.
Rockdale Beef boasts that the feedlot can hold 53,000 cattle - more than 10 times the human population of Narrandera - while the abattoir can process up to 180,000 carcasses a year from the feedlot and other suppliers.
Cattle are bought from farms and saleyards across south-east Australia to spend the last months of their lives in Rockdale's yards being fattened on a rich diet including grain, grape skins and molasses.
When the feedlot is full it goes through about a thousand tonnes of feed a day.
The meat ends up in the supermarkets of Asia and domestically it supplies Woolworths, Coles, McDonald's and Four'N Twenty pies.
Its byproducts end up in pet food, cosmetics and leather goods.
Its composted manure is used on gardens and golf courses.
The nutrient-rich waste water is recycled to grow more crops on the 2000-hectare site to fatten more cattle.
But in Narrandera, Rockdale provides many people with their bread and butter as well.
Rockdale buys the crops of local farmers and about half of Rockdale's workforce of 500 come from Narrandera, making it the town's biggest employer.
Rockdale saves the town from losing many of its young school leavers and it is the rock that has helped Narrandera weather the drought better than many other Riverina towns.
Plenty of city people would turn their nose up at the tough, repetitive work required in the Rockdale boning room, but the business's managing director, Paul Troja, said "people understand the value of a job here".
"They all understand that without this business the commerce and activity of the township would be substantially less," Mr Troja said.
"We try and encourage as many local people as we can [to work at Rockdale].
"We invest in local people because local people invest in us.
"People who started sweeping the floor are now running the place."
Rockdale was developed in the early 1990s by its two Japanese owners, Mitsubishi and Itoham.
But in Narrandera lately there have been dark rumours that Rockdale might shut.
Because of the drought and other factors, the business has been struggling.
The feedlot is now home to only 25,000 cattle.
Mr Troja admits times have been tough, but says Rockdale is not closing and can remodel its operations to stay viable.
The site of Rockdale was strategically chosen so it could reliably obtain the feed it needed from nearby and gain a competitive advantage through lower transport costs.
Rainfall and irrigation water data going back a century were studied, but the severity of the drought has made a mockery of records.
A run of unbelievably bad years has meant feed has had to be trucked in over long distances.
"The uniqueness of this business has diminished," Mr Troja said.
"You start carting grain long distances and that's money off the bottom line."
In a submission to the Federal Government's inquiry into an emissions trading scheme due to start in 2010, Rockdale also warned that such a scheme would be harmfully expensive for its business and could force it to relocate overseas.
In Narrandera, the children do not grow up dreaming of a career dismembering cattle carcasses, but it is the reality that ultimately lets many of them stay in their home town.
Slaughterman Paul Baldwin, 33, grew up in Narrandera and has worked at the Rockdale abattoir for 14 years.
"There was nothing else around and this was the best option," he said of his career choice.
Were it not for Rockdale, he probably would not have stayed in Narrandera.
"I think Narrandera probably would have died without Rockdale."
Mr Baldwin never intended to stay at the abattoir for 14 years, but along came a wife, three children and a mortgage.
He works three days on, four days off, doing long shifts of about 13 hours.
It is hard work, but he likes the leisure time it gives him to enjoy the country charms.
"I go camping, go fishing. I won't say I enjoy the work, but I enjoy the guys here.
"The guys on the floor make it easier to take."
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