NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RFD-TV) — A subsidiary of JBS will close a beef facility in the coming weeks. Swift Beef Company will close its Riverside, California, plant in February, laying off 374 workers. The company told Meatingplace that production will be transferred to other facilities. This comes just after Tyson announced significant cuts to processing capacity in Nebraska and Texas.
Temporary processing plant outages can sharply widen the beef live-to-cutout price spread and increase week-to-week volatility, according to a new summary by Christopher N. Boyer, Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Tennessee. The findings show that unexpected shutdowns push spreads far above normal levels for several weeks, creating immediate financial and operational pressure for cattle producers and feedyards.
The analysis shows that these temporary shocks — such as the 2019 Tyson Holcomb fire and the COVID-19 slowdown — remove capacity without warning, causing harvest delays, firmer boxed beef values, and unstable grid returns. During these periods, producers typically face wider basis risk, tighter cash flow, and increased uncertainty in marketing plans.
Permanent plant closures tell a different story. Because they are telegraphed in advance, the cattle industry adjusts routing, freight, and scheduling before capacity is lost. As a result, spreads before and after a permanent closure resemble normal trading behavior with little persistent volatility.
Farm-Level Takeaway: Plan for sharp, short-term volatility after unexpected outages; permanent closures rarely trigger major price spread disruptions.
Beef industry groups seem to agree — market-based pricing, not federal intervention, best supports rancher livelihoods and long-term beef supply stability.
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