Tyson?s beef plant closure in Nebraska will impact a reliant town and ranchers nationwide

"Lexington, Nebraska has a population of approximately 10,662 (2022) with 
a median age of 30. The city is racially diverse, with a significant 
Hispanic population (around 29.9% "Other Hispanic")"

ICE can help clean that up.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tyson Foods’ decision to close a beef plant that 
employs nearly one third of residents of Lexington, Nebraska, could 
devastate the small city and undermine the profits of ranchers nationwide.

Closing a single slaughterhouse might not seem significant, but the 
Lexington plant employs roughly 3,200 people in the city of 11,000 and has 
the capacity to slaughter some 5,000 head of cattle a day. Tyson also 
plans to cut one of the two shifts at a plant in Amarillo, Texas, and 
eliminate 1,700 jobs there. Together those two moves will reduce beef 
processing capacity nationwide by 7-9%.

Consumers may not see prices change much at the grocery store over the 
next six months because all the cattle that are now being prepared for 
slaughter will still be processed, potentially just at a different plant. 
But in the long run, beef prices may continue to climb even higher than 
the current record highs — caused by a variety of factors from drought to 
tariffs — unless American ranchers decide to raise more cattle, which they 
have little incentive to do.

An increase in beef imports from Brazil, like President Donald Trump 
encouraged last week by slashing tariffs on the South American country, 
may help insulate consumers while ranchers and feedlots struggle with high 
costs and falling prices.

Here’s what we know about the impact of the plant closure and the changing 
tariffs:

A ‘gut punch’ to the community
Clay Patton, vice president of the Lexington-area Chamber of Commerce said 
Monday that Tyson’s announcement Friday felt like a “gut punch” to the 
community in the Platte River Valley that serves as a key link in the 
agricultural production chain.

When it opened in 1990, the Lexington plant that Tyson later acquired 
revitalized and remade the formerly dwindling town by attracting thousands 
of immigrants to work there and nearly doubling the population.

When the plant closes in January, the ripple effects will be felt 
throughout the community, undermining many first-generation business 
owners and the investment in new housing, Patton said. Tyson said it will 
offer Lexington workers the chance to move to take open jobs at one of its 
other plants if they are willing to uproot their families for jobs 
hundreds of miles away.

“I’m hopeful that we can come through this and we’ll actually become 
better on the other side of it,” Patton said.

Elmer Armijo was struck by how established the community was when he moved 
to Lexington last summer to lead First United Methodist Church. He 
described solid job security, good schools and health care systems and 
urban development — all in doubt now.

“People are completely worried,” Armijo said. “The economy in Lexington is 
based in Tyson.”

Many local churches, Armijo’s included, are already offering counseling, 
food pantries and gas vouchers for community members.

Cattle prices falling in response
The prospect of losing a major buyer for cattle and increasing imports 
from Brazil, which already accounted for 24% of the beef brought into the 
country this year, only adds to doubts about how profitable the U.S. 
cattle business might be over the next several years, making it less 
likely that American ranchers will commit to raising more animals.

“There’s a just a lack of confidence in the industry right now. And 
producers are unwilling to make the investment to rebuild,” said Bill 
Bullard, president of Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United 
Stockgrowers of America.

Boosting imports from Brazil has the potential to affect the market — much 
more than Trump’s suggestion to increase imports from Argentina — since 
the country sends more beef to America than any other. But for steak 
lovers, the sky-high price of the cut isn’t likely to be affected 
regardless, as most imports are lean trimmings that get mixed into ground 
beef.

Kansas State University agricultural economist Glynn Tonsor said it’s hard 
to predict whether imports will continue to account for roughly 20% of the 
U.S. beef supply next year. He pointed out that Trump’s tariffs have 
changed several times since they were announced in the spring and could 
quickly change again.

The only constant in the equation has been that consumers have continued 
to buy beef even as prices soar. Tonsor said on average Americans will 
consume 59 pounds (27 kilograms) of beef per person this year.

Tyson faces continued losses in the beef business
There has long been excess capacity in the meat business nationwide, 
meaning the nation’s slaughterhouses could handle many more cattle than 
they are processing. That has only been made worse in recent years as the 
government has encouraged more smaller companies to open slaughterhouses 
to compete with Tyson and the other giants that dominate the beef 
business.

Tyson expects to lose more than $600 million on beef production this year 
after already reporting $720 million of red ink in beef over the past two 
years.

Tonsor said it was inevitable that at least one beef plant would close. 
Afterward, Tyson’s remaining plants will be able to operate more 
efficiently at closer to full capacity.

Ernie Goss, an economist at Creighton University in Omaha, said the 
Lexington plant likely wasn’t measuring up in the industry increasingly 
reliant on technological advancements that enhance productivity.

“It’s very difficult to renovate or make the old plant fit the new world,” 
said Goss, who completed an impact study for a new Sustainable Beef plant. 
The Lexington facility “just wasn’t competitive right now in today’s 
environment in terms of output per worker.”

https://apnews.com/article/beef-prices-tyson-plant-closing-
a47113754d3a2962970481153657a02f