Tyson Foods announced late on Friday, November 21st,
that it was closing its beef processing plant at Lexington, Nebraska,
and moving the Amarillo, Texas, plant to a single shift. Both changes
are scheduled for January 20th, 2026. Combined, these actions by Tyson
will remove about 7,700 head of maximum kill capacity. The Lexington
plant employs about 3,200 people and has a capacity of 4,800 cattle per
day. The transition in Amarillo is expected to impact about 1,700
workers. The Lexington plant is located just off I-80 in western
Nebraska, and sits between several major facilities owned by JBS,
Cargill, and Sustainable Beef. Packing plant utilization has hovered
around 80% nationally this year, and this move by Tyson will move
capacity utilization up closer to 90%. Tyson Beef had negative earnings
of over $1 billion last fiscal year.
African swine fever has been detected in Spain in the
past couple weeks. Two cases have been confirmed, and 12 other wild
boars are undergoing tests to confirm this. About one-third of Spanish
pork export certificates have been blocked after this first ASF
outbreak in Spain since 1994.
On Thursday, November 20th, President Trump removed his
40% tariffs on Brazilian food products, including beef and coffee, that
were imposed in July. Brazil is the largest beef exporter in the world,
with China their largest customer. US shipments accounted for about 7%
of all Brazilian beef exports this year. It is estimated about 30% of
total Brazilian beef production will be exported this year, with over
half going to China and Hong Kong. Almost all of the beef exported to
the US is lean beef used for the grinding trade.
Ty Breeden, a rancher and ag banker from Quinter, is
the new president of the Kansas Livestock Association. Ty graduated
from K-State with a degree in ag econ, and works full-time at First
State Bank in Hoxie. He also runs a commercial cow-calf and dryland
farming operation. Jeff George of Garden City was elected as the KLA
president-elect. Jeff hails from southeast Kanas near Uniontown. He
earned a degree in Animal Science with a minor in business from
K-State. He is part owner and manager of Finny County Feedyard.
Grains
An unsecured creditors committee has been established
in the Hansen-Mueller Co. Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the US
Bankruptcy Court in Nebraska. The Omaha-based company is moving toward
selling its assets after filing for Chapter 11 on November 17th, and
has established it owes money to between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors.
Hansen-Mueller listed its top 20 unsecured creditors in its filing, and
seven of those creditors have agreed to serve on the committee. That
includes Bunge Canada in Omaha; AgMark LLC in Beloit, Kansas; CoMark
Equity Alliance in Enid, Oklahoma; AllianceAg and Grain, LLC in
Spearville, Kansas; Chisholm Trail Terminal in Pond Creek, Oklahoma; Ag
Valley Coop in Arapahoe, Nebraska; and Lagniappe Planting Co. in
Hollandale, Mississippi. The unsecured creditor committee's duties
include consulting and investigating the debtor, while forming a
reorganization plan for the company. The committee has the power to
hire attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors, and the
committee's activities are paid for out of the debtor's estate.
Dr. Seth Meyers, USDA's Chief Economist, is leaving his
post at the end of the year to lead the Food and Agriculture Policy
Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri. Meyer will
replace Pat Westhoff as director of FAPRI, who is retiring effective
March 1st, 2026. Meyer's move comes as USDA is pressing for a
reorganization and has cut staff across agencies. The office of Chief
Economist in 2025 spent $30.5 million for 58 full-time employees, and
USDA is proposing cutting that to $19.8 million in 2026. Back in May,
USDA also delayed its quarterly outlook for US Agricultural Trade and
eliminated analysis provided by USDA economists for the report because
the numbers and analysis ran counter to the administration's messaging
that agriculture would boost exports and lower the trade deficit this
year. As director of FAPRI, Meyer will oversee a team of about a dozen
facility and staff members who generate research for non-academic and
academic audiences, teach under-graduate and graduate students and
support and undertake extension and outreach. FAPRI's annual baseline
report offers a summary of 10-year projections for economic indicators
including farm income, farm program spending and domestic commodity
markets. Their team also frequently fills requests from Congress to
examine particular policy issues.