Tyson Closes Beef Plants

REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Just months after closing a large beef facility in Lexington, Nebraska, Tyson Foods has announced it will end operations at its Joslin, Illinois, beef plant and its Eagle Mountain, Utah, case-ready facility.

The Joslin beef facility kills about 3,000 head per day and employs 2,500 people, and the closure is effective immediately. The company said it will shift processing to three facilities located in Dakota City, Nebraska, Holcomb, Kansas, and Amarillo, Texas, citing the historic cattle shortages in the U.S. as the reason for the changes. In November 2025, when the announcement was made about the Lexington, Nebraska, plant, the Amarillo plant was drawn back to one shift. This will go back to a two-shift facility, according to the company statement.

"Collectively, these changes will allow the company to maintain a similar level of cattle harvesting across a more efficient and modern network," the statement said.

DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart said, "Tyson's announcement of their plant closures in Joslin, Illinois, and Eagle Mountain, Utah, along with their intent to sell the plant in Pasco, Washington, proves one very clear thing: The cattle complex is changing and this is by no means the same marketplace cattlemen had a year ago, five years ago or even back in 2015."

She added that from an immediate perspective, Tyson's announcement helps clarify why the board has been alarmingly soft over the last two trading days. "As news travels fast and keeping headline news such as this under wraps rarely happens, and it also solidifies the likeliness that the fed cash cattle market will trade lower in the upcoming weeks, which could also affect feeder cattle prices," Stewart said.

ORGANIZATIONS, LEADERS REACT TO CLOSURE

National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) Chief Executive Officer Colin Woodall said the organization is troubled by the closure of the Joslin beef processing facility. "For many years, the plant has played a vital role in the Midwest beef supply chain, and its closure will significantly impact cattle producers, employees, and rural communities across the region. We encourage Tyson to work closely with its longstanding customers to identify alternative marketing opportunities for their cattle."

Illinois Beef Association Executive Vice President Josh St. Peters said the group is deeply disappointed by the sudden decision. "For decades, the Rock Island County plant has served as a critical market for family farmers and has been an important economic driver for rural Illinois," he said. "This announcement underscores the importance of maintaining a strong and competitive beef sector."

Illinois state Rep. Ryan Spain said of the news of the closure, "I am stunned and saddened by the news that Tyson Foods is closing after 43 years in Joslin. This is devastating to our region, to the families that depend on the income they receive from this factory, and to the communities who will bear the downstream impacts of this closure." Employees are to be paid for the next 60 days, and Tyson said it will assist these workers in finding other jobs.

In June 2026, JBS USA announced the closure of its Souderton, Pennsylvania, beef facility which killed about 2,000 head per day. That, along with the two Tyson plant closures, is a total of about 10,000 fewer shackle spaces per day for cattle.

Stewart said from a long-term perspective, Tyson's announcement becomes a much more difficult topic to table as it's multifaceted. "On one hand, one must understand that the plants built in the 1960s are simply not as efficient as the plants entering the marketplace today, like the Sustainable Beef Plant in North Platte, Nebraska, (opened in May 2025) or like the Producer Owned Beef plant currently under construction in Amarillo, Texas, will be," she continued. "And given the historically low cow herd in which the U.S. sits with, it's no secret that ensuring a profit in the packing sector has been a difficult endeavor over the last two years and could remain challenging until domestic supplies increase. Secondly, from a grassroots perspective, this is eerie news to stomach as keeping enough shackle space open for however large the U.S. cow herd builds back to remains a pressing issue for cattlemen who are considering growing their herds."

LOW CATTLE INVENTORY CONTRIBUTES TO BEEF CHALLENGE

Stewart noted after the USDA Jan. 1 Cattle Inventory report, 2026 is the seventh consecutive year for a contraction of the beef cow herd, which sits at 27.6 million head, the lowest inventory since 1951. Following the July 1 inventory, all cattle and calves were up slightly at 94.2 million head, and beef replacement heifers were up 3% at 3.8 million head.

Woodall said these decisions underscore the significant challenges that historically low cattle inventories continue to create across the beef cattle industry. "While we are disappointed by these developments, they also reinforce the importance of rebuilding the nation's cow herd and maintaining adequate processing capacity to support cattle producers, strengthen market opportunities, and ensure a resilient beef supply chain for the future," he added.

Following the closure of the Lexington plant in late 2026, Elliott Dennis, livestock and meat economist for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Agricultural Profitability, said the capacity reduction by packers is due to the reduction of profits due to lower cattle numbers. "In 2015 and 2016 packer profits were high. We saw that continue through Covid, but now with fewer cattle numbers, their profits have decreased," he said. Cattle feeders have learned to raise these animals more efficiently, which has helped increase beef yields. Cattle are getting fed to heavier weights as well, which Dennis said is helping provide more to the beef supply.

"All the contributing factors mean fewer profits for packers and led to the need for a cut back for plants by these packers," he said. He noted the closure of the Mexican border due to the New World screwworm spread had contributed to fewer cattle on feed also. The border is due to reopen Aug. 24, 2026.

WASHINGTON PLANT FOR SALE

In addition to the plant closures, Tyson Foods is pursuing the sale of its Pasco, Washington, beef facility, which has a capacity of about 2,000 head per day.

"Tyson Foods' Pasco, Washington, beef processing facility is also critical for cattle producers in the Northwest, and we appreciate the company's commitment to seek a buyer rather than pursuing an outright closure," added Woodall.

Stewart concluded, "Regardless of where you operate in the supply chain -- whether you're a cow-calf operator in the grass lands of Montana, a stocker in Kansas, or a fellow packer -- this large news announcement grabs your attention and demands consequential thought. But there's one major theme that continues to live on and is embedded in the cattle complex of our day and age -- the business is chock-full of risk and is subject to nauseating headlines that can gravely derail the market's trajectory and stability."

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at Jennifer.Carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal.

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