KCBD NewsChannel 11 - Lubbock, TX published August 17, 2026: Tyson Food beef production restructure.
KWQC News published August 14, 2026: Tyson Foods is permanently closing its Joslin, Illinois beef processing plant, leaving more than 2,500 Quad Cities workers without jobs.
KSL News Utah published August 14, 2026: 723 jobs being lost as Tyson Foods closes Eagle Mountain facility. A Tyson Foods facility in Utah County that opened just five years ago is now set to close. A move that will result in the loss of hundreds of jobs.
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Reuters News
written by P.J. Huffstutter
Thursday August 13, 2026
CHICAGO - Tyson Foods (TSN.N), opens new tab said on Thursday it will close or sell three of its beef plant and packaging operation sites, further shrinking its beef footprint as a historic U.S. cattle shortage deepens losses for the largest U.S. meatpacker.
The company will end operations at its beef facility in Joslin, Illinois, and its case-ready beef facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah, and pursue the sale of its beef plant in Pasco, Washington. Tyson said it will move the processing capacity from these locations to other sites, and anchor its beef business around its plants in Dakota City, Nebraska; Holcomb, Kansas; and Amarillo, Texas.
The closures mark the latest signal of trouble for the nation's meat processing sector, currently dealing with a 75-year trough in supply. U.S. meatpackers have been steadily losing money in their beef businesses because rising cattle costs have outpaced gains from soaring prices for steaks and hamburger meat.
Tyson shares have struggled since their post-COVID recovery ended in mid-2022, having lost nearly 30% of their value over the last five years. Tyson said in a statement that it is trying "to create a more competitive footprint amidst one of the most historic cattle shortages the country has ever experienced."
The company declined on Thursday to say how many workers will be affected by the closures or how many cattle these plants process. It said shifting production among its remaining facilities will allow it to maintain a similar level of cattle slaughter across a more efficient network.
The latest restructuring follows the January shutdown of Tyson's massive beef plant in Lexington, Nebraska, which had about 3,200 workers and could process roughly 5,000 cattle per day, according to an industry estimate. Tyson also reduced its Amarillo plant to one full-capacity shift, affecting about 1,700 workers.
On Thursday, Tyson said it plans to ramp up a second shift in Amarillo "as cattle become available." It said it will work with affected employees in Illinois, Utah and Washington to apply for jobs at other facilities.
"We are living through one of the most severe cattle shortages in our nation’s history, and now we’re seeing the consequences ripple through the entire beef supply chain," said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, in a statement responding to the Tyson move.
TYSON WARNS OF WIDER LOSS
The plant closures could affect cattle prices regionally, because there will be fewer people bidding for animals, said independent livestock trader Dan Norcini.
"But on a national level, I don't think it'll make much of a difference on livestock prices, in part because the locations that are being closed are not where there's a ton of concentration of cattle," he said.
Tyson on August 3 warned that losses in its beef business would widen as tight cattle supplies keep livestock costs elevated. It forecast an adjusted operating loss of $500 million to $650 million in fiscal 2026 for its beef business, compared with a previous forecast for a $350 million to $500 million loss.
Cattle supplies shrank to a 75-year low after a prolonged drought burned up grazing lands in the western U.S. and Washington suspended imports from Mexico in an attempt to keep out the flesh-eating livestock pest New World screwworm.
However, screwworms were detected in June on Texas farms and in New Mexico after moving north through Central America.
Facing pressure to lower consumer costs, the Trump administration said it plans to start lifting the import ban this month. The average retail price of one pound of lean and extra lean ground beef hit a record $8.65 in June, according to federal data.
"We have paid the economic price of a closed border, disrupted a cattle supply chain built over generations and screwworm still made it into the United States," said Texas's Miller.
It may take up to a year for Tyson to benefit from removing the ban because imported feeder cattle must spend time grazing on grass or being fattened in feedlots to get ready for slaughter, Tyson Chief Operating Officer Wes Morris said on a conference call last week.
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CNN
written by Kit Maher
Friday August 21, 2026
President Donald Trump on Friday defended his decision to temporarily pause tariffs on imported beef, despite criticism from some US cattle producers – and he didn’t indicate any plans to reverse course.
“We want to get the beef prices down, so we’ll get them down a little bit, and that’s what people want. That’s what the voters want, and that’s what I want,” Trump told reporters on his way to South Carolina.
Calling ranchers his “people,” Trump said, “They’ve done a fantastic job. But they admit that we need a little help.”
Trump announced earlier Friday that the US would allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported for the next 90 days without out-of-quota tariffs. He wouldn’t tell reporters which countries he’d made a deal with. “I don’t want to say which countries, but there are a few countries, but they’re going to be sending in the highest quality beef, and it’s something that we need,” Trump said.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association pushed back on Trump’s announcement, writing on social media, “No cow-calf producer in America is asking for increased imports. Undercutting American farmers and ranchers with inferior product from foreign competitors does nothing to create market confidence or encourage rebuilding the herd.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley said he was “concerned for the cattle markets,” given the closure of a Tyson beef plant in Joslin, Illinois, earlier this month and the latest temporary action from the White House.
“After Tyson closure in Illinois last wk I’m concerned for the cattle markets +now Pres Trump’s decision to temporarily open up subsidized beef imports,” the Iowa Republican posted on X, using abbreviations for words due to the character limits. “USA cattlemen shld always be put 1st thru America 1st policies Need 2keep up progress fighting screwworm+ expanding domestic herd.”
A White House spokesperson said in a statement to CNN, “President Trump has repeatedly affirmed his support for America’s ranchers and farmers, including in today’s announcement. While the Administration will be easing tariffs on beef imports to address a short-term supply crunch, the Administration is simultaneously working closely with ranchers to grow America’s cattle-herd size, which is currently at a multi-decade low.”
Grassley wasn’t the only Republican Senator to voice concern.
GOP Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana also came out against Trump’s action, which he said he advised the president not to take for the past year.
“I’ve advised President Trump against this course of action for a year because American ranchers have been struggling against the packer monopoly for decades, and this will further harm them - most of whom are MAGA Republicans,” Sheehy wrote on X, adding that Trump’s “heart is in the right place” for wanting to lower prices for US consumers and noted that the screwworm is impacting prices.
“But the reality is this action will make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people. And most importantly, this will harm our ranching families who feed the nation,” Sheehy said.
Pressed by CNN on Sheehy’s comments, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said, “No administration has been more pro-rancher than this administration taking extraordinary actions under USDA to protect and ensure the security of our food supply chain — but again, there’s been, there was an outbreak of screwworm in Mexico.”
And he emphasized that this is “a specific, temporary deal to address an acute issue.”
*** REMEMBER THIS MOVE IN FEBRUARY? ***
Buenos Aires Times, 10/22/25: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent comes to the rescue of hedge funds including BlackRock, Fidelity, Pimco and Discovery Capital Management, all of which bought Argentine bonds. Several fund managers share a professional past with the US official.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s intervention in Argentina seems aimed more at saving his friends than at helping the nation, at least one leading economist has alleged.Several hedge funds with past professional ties to the Treasury Secretary hold major positions in Argentine bonds. Washington’s US$20-billion swap package seeks to shield their returns.According to The New York Times, the financial assistance will benefit “investment firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity and Pimco, which are heavily invested in Argentina, as well as investors like Stanley Druckenmiller and Robert Citrone, who worked with Bessent when he was investing for George Soros.”Specifically, Argentina faces debt payments in January and July next year amounting to roughly US$8.5 billion in bonares and globales bonds, with 85 percent believed to be in private hands.
Same U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent who just said on Thursday August 20, 2026 new series of economic measures will "collapse" the Iranian government. That will most definitely hurt the 93.3 million Iranian people the most. But Bessent doesn't care about the Iranian people because Bessent is helpling Israel. This same Bessent met with radical extremist Israel Finance Minister who threaten to wipe us out or anyone else who doesn't stand with Israel and promised him basically our US Treasury will continue to financially support Israel welfare and other pet projects like using our treasury muscle to collapse Iran's economy on BEHALF OF ISRAEL. (emphasis mine)
The Hill
written by Julia Manchester
February 6, 2026
President Trump has struck a new deal increasing beef imports from Argentina despite facing push back from Republicans and allies in the agricultural sector.
Argentina’s foreign ministry said in a statement the agreement was signed Thursday and grants “an unprecedented expansion of preferential access for Argentine beef to its market by 100,000 tons.”
The country’s foreign ministry added that the agreement will ensure an additional 80,000 tons of beef from Argentina can enter U.S. markets by 2026 in addition to the 20,000 tons already allowed. This will amount to an increase of $800 million in Argentine beef exports to the U.S.
The foreign ministry also noted the U.S. government “reaffirmed its commitment” to reviewing its tariffs on aluminum and steel.
Trump is expected to make the announcement Friday.
“President Trump pledged to ink fairer trade deals while supporting our nation’s agriculture industry. Promises made, promises kept!” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Hill’s partners at NewsNation.
The Trump administration announced in November it had reached frameworks of trade deals with Argentina, along with Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
The deal is a win for Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who is considered one of Trump’s closest allies in Latin America.
“As you can see, we are strongly committed to making Argentina great again,” Milei said, following the framework’s release last year.
While the deal is a major win for Argentina, Republican lawmakers have voiced opposition to the prospect of boosting Argentine beef imports due to its effect on the U.S.’ agricultural industry.
In a letter sent by more than a dozen House Republicans in October to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the GOP lawmakers expressed concern over the Trump administration’s plan to increase beef imports.
Additionally, the then-proposal sparked backlash from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, particularly in states with high cattle inventory.
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