Dive Brief:
- Tyson is shutting down its beef processing plant in Denison, IA, which will mean the loss of about 400 jobs.
- The closure comes amid a dwindling cattle herd supply, which led to excess beef production capacity in the region.
- "Years of dry conditions in the southern U.S. Plains states forced farmers to reduce their beef herds, leaving meatpackers with fewer animals to process," The Wall Street Journal reported.
Dive Insight:
Tyson's plant closure is the latest of several facility shutdowns across the beef industry due to cattle shortages. Last year, Cargill Inc. shut down a Milwaukee cattle slaughterhouse and idled another beef facility in Plainview, TX, in 2013. National Beef Packing Co. also announced it would shut down a California beef processing plant in 2014.
Not all companies are faring the same, however. JBS, the world's leading meatpacker by revenue, announced a $75 million investment in its beef plant in Hyrum, UT, in January, and in its latest earnings report, JBS reported more than double the profits for its U.S. beef division.