The meat processing giant’s decision to close the Nebraska plant comes at a time when U.S. cattle supplies have fallen to their lowest levels in nearly 75 years. The facility is expected to shut down in January, and Tyson Foods is also cutting its Amarillo, Texas plant to a single shift. On Friday, Nov. 21, the company announced that approximately 1,700 to 1,900 employees — nearly half of the Amarillo workforce — will lose their jobs early next year. Many of these workers come from deep-red counties where Trump dominates politically, and now the same Trump-loving farmers and plant workers are facing a collapsing industry with their livelihoods on the line.
“Tyson Foods recognizes the impact these decisions have on team members and the communities where we operate,” the company said, acknowledging it understands how severe the fallout will be. Tyson plans to ramp up production elsewhere to keep pace with customer demand, even as rural workers brace for massive job losses.
Mark Lauritsen, Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division and International Vice President at UFCW International, described Tyson’s move as “devastating.”
“When a company as large and as profitable as Tyson shuts down a facility like this, it is the community – not the corporation – that pays the biggest price,” Lauritsen said, a stark reality for regions that overwhelmingly vote Republican and now find themselves paying the economic cost.
As part of the same restructuring, Tyson will also permanently close its beef processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska in early 2026. No final date has been provided. That plant employs between 2,700 and 3,200 people yet has been running below capacity in recent months. For many in Nebraska — a state that backed Trump heavily — the announcement is another blow.
This is devastating: Tyson Foods is shutting down its beef plant in Lexington, Nebraska. The pedophile president has destroyed a city which 72% of the population voted for him. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣👇 pic.twitter.com/dG7AZNdyZz
— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) November 26, 2025
The U.S. beef industry has been hit hard by shrinking cattle herds and rising beef prices. These problems have been tied to multiple causes, including accusations of price manipulation by major meatpacking corporations — issues Donald Trump himself repeatedly highlighted while doing little to change the underlying corporate power structure.
Trump pushed the Justice Department to investigate alleged market manipulation, arguing that the “Big Four” packers — JBS (Brazil), Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef — control 85% of U.S. beef processing. At the same time, his decision to lift tariffs on certain Brazilian beef imports was promoted as a fix for grocery prices, even as domestic workers in Republican rural regions watched their own jobs vanish.
Despite these industry disruptions, Tyson has maintained financial stability through its chicken business. Goldman Sachs analyst Leah Jordan said confidence in Tyson’s diversified protein operations remains high, noting that gains in chicken are expected to offset weakness in beef. Tyson projects 2026 revenue growth of 2%–4%, slightly above analyst forecasts — even as thousands of workers in red states are left scrambling to survive.
Dayum, racism is extremely expensive. Enjoy your vote.😊