Since December 2025, the US red meat sector has been in crisis. Tyson Foods has announced the closure of its Lexington, Nebraska, production site, resulting in the loss of 3,200 jobs. JBS, another industry giant, will shut its Riverside plant near Los Angeles, laying off 374 employees. Adding to this, Tyson Foods has agreed to pay USD 82.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit.
Red meat under pressure
The US meat market is going through a turbulent period. Beef prices have reached record highs this year due to a shortage of cattle caused by prolonged drought. A ban on imports of Mexican cattle has further reduced supplies. Lower availability has forced meat processors to pay more for livestock destined for slaughter, squeezing their margins. The issue, which affects millions of Americans, has drawn direct intervention from US President Donald Trump. On the one hand, he has said he is working to bring down beef prices; on the other, he has accused the “big four” meat companies of collusion and price inflation.
Lay-offs begin
The worst news has come from Nebraska. Since 1990, Lexington (population 11,000) has been home to a meat processing plant acquired by Tyson Foods in 2001. Today it employs 3,200 people and processes up to 5,000 head of cattle a day. The company has announced it will close the plant by January 2026, with predictable social consequences. According to the Associated Press, hundreds of families could be forced to leave the town in search of work, causing severe hardship for local businesses. Tyson said the closure is intended to “scale back” its cattle operations and contain costs. At the end of 2025, Tyson Foods also signed an agreement to pay USD 82.5 million to settle a class action brought by grocery retailers and distributors, who allege the company illegally inflated beef prices for years. The settlement still requires judicial approval. It is not the first agreement of this kind.
Not the only ones
Another meat giant has also announced the closure of a production site. JBS will shut the Swift Beef Company plant on the outskirts of Los Angeles (Riverside, California) on 2 February, laying off 374 workers. According to a company spokesperson, cited by Reuters, the closure is not due to a lack of livestock but is part of an operational optimisation. “JBS will shift production to other facilities, and workers will be able to find jobs at other plants”, the company said.
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