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# GRAPHIC: Recent Tyson Foods, Butterball meatpacking plant closures highlight industry trend
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-recent-tyson-foods-butterball-meatpacking-plant-closures-highlight-industry-trend/
- Published: 2024-12-24T18:02:19.000Z
- Updated: 2024-12-24T18:02:19.000Z
- Description: Plants in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa have seen massive layoffs in recent years.
- Author: John McCracken, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Agribusiness, Meat industry, Data Harvest, antitrust investigations, Atlantic Veal & Lamb, boar's head, Butterball, contract grower debt, TP::Explainer, food safety breaches, foodborne illnesses, herbruck's poultry ranch, Holly Poultry, industry consolidation, JBS USA, Kunzler & Company, labor shortages, listeria outbreak, livestock costs, Oscar Meyer, Peco Foods, Pilgrims Pride, poultry processing, Pure Prairie Poultry, Smithfield Foods, Strauss Brands & Logistics, turkey processing, Tyson Foods, WARN notices, Wayne Farms, workforce layoffs, Zacky & Sons Poultry, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

Meatpacking plants closed at an unprecedented rate this year, accelerated by a number of factors such as rising livestock costs, workforce shortages, food safety violations and foodborne illnesses, and ongoing industry consolidation.

These challenges, exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, have persisted, leading to at least 15 plant shutdowns each in this year and last—the highest number in a decade, according to an Investigate Midwest review of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) layoff data and industry reports.

Tyson Foods, the country’s largest poultry processor, led the trend with some of the largest layoffs this year and last. Numerous chicken processing plants shuttered last year and it was recently announced that beef operation closures in Kansas will leave more than 800 workers jobless.

These plant closures left contract growers who raised chickens for the company [millions of dollars in debt](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/early-morning-calls-barren-chicken-barns-millions-in-debt/) and prompted antitrust [investigations](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/tyson-foods-is-being-investigated-by-the-usda/) and [lawsuits](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/tyson-foods-cal-maine-foods-sued-for-alleged-antitrust-action/).

Boar’s Head, a deli-meat processor headquartered in Florida, closed its Jarratt, Virginia plant and laid off 600 workers after a[ nationwide outbreak of listeria](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/listeria-outbreak-linked-to-boars-head-deli-meats-deadliest-since-2011/) was linked to the plant. Ten people have reportedly died after eating the company’s liverwurst product, which has since been discontinued.

In early December, Butterball, one of the nation’s largest turkey processors, announced it was closing a Jonesboro, Arkansas plant, laying off roughly 180 workers.

## Explore the data: Sort closures by company, state and worker impact below