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Company cites ‘continued uncertainty’ as the reason for the May 20 lockout in Fort Morgan, stressing that the $33.4 million contract offer remains fair and competitive.
As the federal government settles with Agri Stats over data-sharing, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Secretary Brooke Rollins launch a high-stakes investigation into beef market concentration and potential price-fixing.
Thousands of union workers at the JBS Greeley, Colo., plant went on strike Monday calling for higher wages, safer working conditions and respect on the job.
UNL predicts closure will result in $3.28 billion in annual statewide economic losses. The analysis projects more than 7,000 jobs lost statewide, including 3,212 plant positions, along with significant reductions in labor income and state and local tax revenues.
Terrain’s Dave Weaber says placements of cattle into feedlots will continue to shrink, long-feared beef slaughter capacity reductions have arrived, and the beef cow herd hasn’t begun to expand.
The announcement to close the Lexington, Neb., plant and transition to one shift in Amarillo shocked the beef industry. While local impacts will be significant, analysts urge producers to remain calm as the market fundamentals steady following the reaction.
The company will end operations in early 2026 in the plant that employs nearly 3,200 people and can slaughter almost 5,000 cattle a day and convert its Amarillo, Texas, beef facility to a single, full-capacity shift.
Strong demand supports beef prices amid economic volatility, but herd investment and growth slows as producers grapple with increasing uncertainty due to political noise.