Tyson Foods recently announced the shutdown of its beef processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska. The news followed months of losses in its beef division, driven largely by the smallest U.S. cattle herd in decades.
Dr. Derrell Peel, a livestock market economist with Oklahoma State University, told the Radio Oklahoma Network that the move wasn’t entirely unexpected. With an additional slowdown at Tyson’s plant in Amarillo, Texas, Peel said the combination represents a seven to eight thousand head per day loss of packing capacity, which is about 7.5 to nine percent of total U.S. packing capacity.
The southern plains region is also especially tight due to drought-related issues and the impact of the New World Screwworm, which has restricted the flow of Mexican feeder cattle into the U.S. Peel did say that Tyson heavily invested in updating the Amarillo facility, which means the company likely won’t abandon the beef plant long-term.
- NAFB