April 27, 2023

Tyson Foods shuts down pork plant in Nebraska after fire

Major US meatpacker Tyson Foods is diverting swine from a Nebraska processing plant to other plants after a weekend fire forced the closure of the facility on Monday, US News reported.

While Tyson works to restore normal operations at the facility in Madison, Nebraska, the company is shipping swine to other plants and stockpiling swine on farms to prevent disruptions to American pork production.

For the remainder of the week, the plant's operations will be restricted, according to Tyson, as the company assesses the fire's damage and starts making repairs.

The plant typically runs one shift per day to process swine, and it employs about 1,200 people.

Steve Meyer, lead economist for Partners for Production Agriculture, said Tyson's Nebraska facility typically slaughters 8,250 swine per day. Although it is not one of Tyson's largest facilities, it accounts for about 2% of all daily swine slaughter in the US.

The cause of the fire and the locations of the facilities that were receiving the swine that would typically be processed in Madison were not disclosed by Tyson Foods.

Al Juhnke, executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association, said the company is able keep the animal flow going, as farmers have swine they need to deliver quickly.

-      US News