Photo credit: Tyson Foods (X)
Tyson Foods is shrinking its beef business again. The company said Thursday it will close two beef plants and try to sell a third, the latest sign of stress in the nation’s meatpacking industry.
Two closures and a sale
Tyson will end operations at its beef facility in Joslin, Illinois, and its case ready beef facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah. The company will also pursue a sale of its beef plant in Pasco, Washington. Tyson plans to shift processing capacity from all three sites to its remaining plants in Dakota City, Nebraska, Holcomb, Kansas and Amarillo, Texas. The company said the move will let it maintain a similar level of cattle slaughter while running a more efficient network. Tyson did not say how many workers will be affected or how many cattle the three plants currently process. Employees at the affected sites will be able to apply for jobs at other Tyson facilities.
A cattle supply squeeze years in the making
The restructuring reflects a supply problem that has been building for years. Cattle supplies have fallen to their lowest point in 75 years after a long drought dried up grazing land across the western United States. Rising cattle costs have outpaced gains from higher beef prices at the register, and that gap has been steadily eating into meatpacker profits. Tyson shares have lost close to 30% of their value over the last five years. Earlier this month the company widened its loss forecast for its beef business, now projecting an adjusted operating loss between $500 million and $650 million for fiscal 2026.
Screwworm concerns added to the pressure
The supply squeeze deepened after officials suspended cattle imports from Mexico to keep out a livestock pest known as the New World screwworm. The pest still reached Texas and New Mexico farms in June, moving north through Central America despite the restrictions. Federal officials now plan to start lifting the import ban this month as pressure builds to bring down consumer beef prices, which hit a record $8.65 a pound for ground beef in June. Tyson leadership has said it could take up to a year to feel any benefit from the reopened border, since imported cattle need months of grazing or feedlot time before they are ready for slaughter.
Part of a longer pullback
This is not Tyson’s first cutback this year. The company shut down its Lexington, Nebraska plant in January, a facility that employed about 3,200 workers and could process roughly 5,000 cattle a day. It also reduced its Amarillo plant to a single shift, affecting close to 1,700 workers, though Tyson said it hopes to bring back a second shift there as more cattle become available. Industry analysts say the latest closures could push cattle prices up regionally in the affected areas, though the impact on national prices is expected to be limited since the plants being closed are not in the country’s most concentrated cattle regions.
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