NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD-TV) — Our coverage continues this morning on the shakeup at meat-packing giant Tyson. The company now says it is preparing to hand out pink slips to more than 1,700 employees at its Amarillo, Texas, plant.
Tyson announced last week that it is transitioning the facility to a single shift and alerted the state that 1,761 employees will be laid off, effective January 20.
In 2022, Tyson announced it was investing $200 million in its Amarillo facility, upgrading the plant and adding more than 140,000 square feet of locker rooms, cafeterias, and office space. At the time, Tyson said the Amarillo plant was one of the company’s largest beef facilities.
This all comes after the company announced that it is also shutting down its facility in Lexington, Nebraska. Governor Jim Pillen says that while it is a blow to the state’s ag community, not all hope is lost.
“The good news for the Nebraska cattlemen is, we have a new producer-owned plant that’s ramping up sustainable beef in North Platte,” Pillen said. “We’ll be able to be strengthened and create great opportunities for the people. The number that I’ve gotten from sustainable beef is like, 35 percent of the new workforce is already from Lexington, and they’ll be able to have more, so that’s going to be a good step. The beef plant in Hastings, that plant is going to go from 500 head to 1,200 head, providing kosher beef for Israel and Jewish communities, so that’s good news with growth.”
Pillen said he has spoken with ranchers in the area and that all options are on the table to help fill any gaps.
“I talked to lots of cattlemen; there are a lot of cattlemen who would really, really like to be involved in a possible purchase of the plant and keep it running,” he said. “Speeding up and making the sustainable beef plant be able to take care of more processing. There could be possibilities. Everything’s on the table. We’re all in the early exploration stages of making that happen, so to get into the details publicly certainly wouldn’t be appropriate, but you can rest assured that there’s everything on the table to be able to create opportunity.”
Tyson says operations at the Lexington facility will wrap up in January. The company says the changes are needed to accommodate the current beef climate, which is weakening.
The most recent numbers for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cattle on Feed and marketings came in lower. A USDA livestock analyst said the drop was somewhat expected. Currently, there are 11.7 million head of cattle in feedlots with a capacity of greater than 1000 head, which is about 2 percent lower than a year ago. Placements into feedlots also fell, dropping about 10 percent from last year, while marketed cattle came in roughly 8 percent lower.
“Placements continue to be down sharply from a year ago. That’s really just representative of really tight feeder cattle supplies. Some of that is due to the fact that we have sharply lower imports, largely due to the fact that we have bans and restrictions on cattle coming from Mexico, in addition to which we have tight domestic feeder cattle supplies, due to where we are on the cattle cycle. As a result, we’re also seeing the rate of marketing reduced from last year.”
It is worth noting that the latest report reflects the lowest levels since the report began in 1996. Analysts say any herd rebuilding could take at least two years to show results.
Market Analysts Sound Alarm on Tyson Cuts
Tyson Foods’ decision to close its Lexington, Nebraska, beef plant and reduce its Amarillo, Texas, facility to a single shift is already resetting expectations for cattle prices, basis levels, and competition in the packing sector. According to Hyrum Egbert, Founder of The Big Bad Packer, the market had been pricing in tariff relief and potential border changes — but not a packing-capacity shock of this size.
Egbert says nearby futures and regional cash markets will likely soften in the short run as producers lose a major local bidder and must haul cattle farther. Basis around Lexington and Amarillo is expected to weaken, while beef cutout values may firm as buyers front-load coverage ahead of reduced kill space.
Operationally, Egbert notes the cutbacks improve packer margins by aligning hooks with the nation’s historically tight cattle supply. Longer cattle movements will raise freight costs, widen regional spreads, and inject more volatility into cash-versus-formula debates. He emphasizes these are structural changes — not temporary Saturday kill adjustments.
Looking ahead, Egbert says tighter U.S. kill space elevates the importance of imported lean beef, tariff decisions, and border policies. He also cautions that more regional plant closures may follow.
