Cattle supplies at 75-year low pressure U.S. meatpackers
Tyson Foods said it will close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing plant and sell a slaughter facility in Pasco, Washington, the Arkansas-based company’s latest moves to pull back from beef as a multi-year U.S. cattle shortage drives up costs for processors. The company also plans to close a large beef packaging facility in Utah.
The Joslin plant employs more than 2,000 people and can kill about 3,000 cattle a day. Tyson said it also plans to sell the Pasco facility, which can slaughter about 2,000 cattle a day.
U.S. meatpackers have faced significant financial pressure because domestic cattle supplies have fallen to their lowest level in 75 years, sharply driving up costs. Consumer demand for beef has remained strong, helping propel prices to record levels and making beef the face of food inflation over the past 12 months.
The Joslin and Pasco moves come after Tyson earlier in 2026 closed a Lexington, Nebraska, beef plant — one of the industry’s largest — and halved production at a Texas plant. Taken together, the year’s exits would amount to Tyson shedding roughly one-third of its prior beef processing operations. The company said it now plans to ramp operations back up at the Texas facility.
In a note to employees, Chief Executive Donnie King said recent Agriculture Department data showed limited signs of U.S. cattle ranchers expanding their herds, “which indicates these supply constraints are likely to persist, requiring strategic action.”
The company said the changes would make Tyson’s beef operations more competitive during a historic cattle shortage.