Tyson Foods Inc. is ending operations at a beef plant in Nebraska and cutting a shift at a Texas facility as the meat producer loses millions amid the smallest American cattle herd in decades.
Consumers are paying record-high prices for beef as packers are forced to pay up to buy a shrinking amount of cattle. US President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to boost imports from countries including Brazil and Argentina to help make up a domestic shortfall, but the measures have yet to bring down retail prices.
Tyson earlier this month said it was set to lose as much as $600 million in its beef segment in fiscal 2026, after losing $720 million over the past two years.
The company on Friday said it was seeking to “right-size its beef business” by ending operations in Lexington, Nebraska, and converting the plant in Amarillo, Texas, to a single shift. About 3,200 workers will be impacted in Lexington and 1,700 in Amarillo, Tyson said.
One of Tyson’s biggest slaughter plants, the facility in Lexington can slaughter nearly 5,000 head of cattle per day.
“To meet customer demand, production will be increased at other company beef facilities, optimizing volumes across our network,” Tyson said in the statement.
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