Cargill Ends Milwaukee Operations Soon
Cargill Closes Milwaukee Ground Beef Plant
REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Cargill will close their ground beef processing plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, leaving 221 without jobs.
In a notice announcement to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development from Cargill, the senior supervisor, HR business partner Amy Shaw, noted the plant will be permanently closing. Operations will stop on or around April 17, 2026, and fully close on or around May 31, 2026.
The facility specializes in producing ground beef for grocery retailers and food service customers and did not slaughter live cattle.
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As reported by DTN in December 2024, Cargill, the country's largest privately held company, then announced the company would cut approximately 5% of its workforce, an estimated 8,000 people, as profit margins are coming down.
"To strengthen Cargill's impact, we must realign our talent and resources to align with our strategy," Cargill officials stated in December 2024. "Unfortunately, that means reducing our global workforce by approximately 5%. This difficult decision was not made lightly. We will lean on our core value of putting people first as we support our colleagues during this transition."
Cargill has similar facilities focusing specifically on ground-beef processing without slaughtering live cattle in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Other Cargill slaughter plants across the country process ground beef as part of their overall operations.
Cargill, the country's largest privately held company, doesn't release specific production numbers for each plant, but produces nearly 11 billion pounds of boxed beef and byproducts per year across all plants.
Previously, Cargill had a beef slaughter facility in Milwaukee, which closed in 2014, noting a tight cattle supply at the time.
Also see, "Farmers Optimistic Despite Ag Pressures," https://www.dtnpf.com/….
Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com
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