Tyson Foods has announced they will be closing their Lexington, Nebraska meat packing plant in January 2026. The plant has the capacity of processing up to 5,000 head of cattle a day and employs roughly 3,200 people in the town of just 10,000 people.
The move comes as Tyson’s beef business suffered adjusted losses of $291 million over the previous year. The meatpacker projected the unit will lose $400 million to $600 million in the 2026 fiscal year.
Tyson Foods also announced they will reduce operations at a beef plant in Amarillo, Texas, to a single, full-capacity shift, affecting about 1,700 workers. The plant in the Texas panhandle can process roughly 6,000 head of cattle a day.
The announcement drew disappointment from cattle groups and elected officials. The Nebraska Cattlemen Board of Directors released the following statement in response to Tyson Foods’ announcement it will permanently close the beef processing plant in Lexington:
“We are disappointed by Tyson’s decision to permanently close the Lexington beef processing facility – especially in light of today’s USDA data indicating that Nebraska cattle-on-feed inventories remain slightly above year-ago levels in spite of the ongoing cyclical tightness in overall U.S. cattle numbers. We firmly believe there isn’t a better place to efficiently and economically raise cattle and produce beef than Nebraska. As this will have a profound impact on the community of Lexington and many cattle producers, we hope the plant will continue operations under new ownership.”
U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, released the following statement after Tyson Foods announced it will close the beef processing plant located in Lexington:
“I am extremely disappointed by this news from Tyson today. As the single largest employer in Lexington, Tyson’s announcement will have a devastating impact on a truly wonderful community, the region, and our state. Nebraskans are nothing if not resilient, and Lexington has a robust workforce. I hope their skill and experience will be sought after by other employers.
“Nebraska is the beef state, and we know better than anyone the highs and lows of the cattle market. It’s no secret that just a few years ago, packers like Tyson were making windfall profits while the rest of the industry was continuously in the red.
“As we head into the holiday season, I call on Tyson to do everything in its power to take care of the families affected by this short-sighted decision.”
The closure announcement comes in the same year that Sustainable Beef opened a new beef processing facility just 63 miles down the road from the Lexington location as well as President Trump shaking up the cattle industry by saying he wants to bring beef prices down by importing more beef from Argentina and later announcing plans for the Department of Justice to investigate foreign owned beef packers.
###
Northern Ag Network – 2025
