Tyson Foods to shutter meat plant in Kansas, cut more than 800 jobs
More than 800 employees at Tyson Foods’ meat processing plant in Emporia, Kan., learned Monday (Dec. 2) they will lose their jobs when the plant there is shuttered in February 2025. Plant operations will be moved to the Holcomb facility located 275 miles west of Emporia.
Springdale-based Tyson Foods is closing the 328,000-square-foot facility that produces seasoned and marinated meats, and ground beef.
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close our beef and pork non-harvest processing facility in Emporia, Kansas to increase the efficiency of our operations,” Tyson said in a statement. “We understand the impact of this decision on our team members and the local community. Taking care of our team members is our top priority and we encourage them to apply for other open roles within the company. We are also working closely with state and local officials to provide additional resources to those who are impacted. The state of Kansas is important to Tyson Foods, with employment of more than 5,000 team members across our other Kansas facilities.”
Tyson expects plant operations will wind down by Feb. 14 and employees needed past that date will be notified by management. The news was made public Monday when the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN notice) was posted online indicating 809 employees would be without a job when the plant closes.
Tyson execs have said they are working to adapt as the company’s beef segment continues to face low herd numbers, weaker processing margins, and higher live cattle costs. Pooran Sharma, an analyst at Stephens Inc., said the U.S. beef processing margin averaged $84.39 per head, versus $161.31 a year ago. The weaker margins sent slaughter down 17.5% and beef production decreased by 15.4% from a year ago.
The pork segment also has its woes. Sharma said the average U.S. pork processing margin fell to $16.39 per head this week, down from $34.67 a year ago. Hog slaughter fell 14.7% and hog production was down 15.4% year over year.
Sharma said the plant closure is part of the company’s broader optimization strategy that has already closed six chicken plants and one port facility since 2023. He said the Emporia facility was originally part of the IBP acquisition in 2001 and is an older facility.
“While we expect beef fundamentals to remain challenging, we are encouraged by Tyson’s focus on operational excellence,” Sharma noted on Tuesday.
Tyson in 2023 and 2024 has shuttered six plants and eliminated 4,460 jobs from the communities of Van Buren and Little Rock, Ark., Noel and Dexter, Mo., Corydon, Ind., and Glen Falls, Va.
Shares of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) have risen in value almost 20% this calendar year reaching a 52-week high mark of $66.88 in early September.