HQ MOVES
Hundreds of workers leaving Tyson Foods as company closes offices: report

Ken Martin
Wed, December 21, 2022 

Hundreds of employees at Tyson Foods have decided not to relocate to the company's headquarters in Arkansas next year as the company consolidates its corporate offices.

The workers are reportedly from two of its largest business units, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Tyson announced in October that it planned to close its offices in Chicago, Downers Grove, Ill., and Dakota Dunes, S.D.

Those corporate employees work in the prepared foods, beef and pork divisions. About 1,000 employees total work in those locations, the company has said.

CHICAGO FACES MORE CORPORATE DEPARTURES AS TYSON FOODS MOVES TO ARKANSAS

A sign hangs above the Tyson Foods offices in Chicago, Illinois.

Tyson set a deadline of Nov. 14 to decide if they would relocate.

About three-quarters of the 500 employees in Tyson’s South Dakota office told the company they wouldn’t make the move.

More than 90% of the employees in Tyson’s Chicago office have declined to relocate, people told the Journal.

Nationwide, the meat company has about 120,000 employees, with about 114,000 of them working in production plants.

TYSON FOODS LATEST LARGE BUSINESS TO FLEE CHICAGO, WHAT SPARKED THE EXODUS?

."I’m confident the plan we have in place ensures business continuity and positions us for long-term success," said Tyson Chief Executive Donnie King in a statement. "We knew there would be a variety of responses when we announced the consolidation of our corporate locations."

Some key managers have planned to leave instead of relocate including the leader of its beef and pork unit.

Tyson Foods Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Tyson’s beef and pork division makes up almost half the company’s $53 billion in revenue in its 2022 fiscal year.

Tyson Foods Employees From Chicago And Dakota Business Units Plan To Quit


Shivani Kumaresan
Thu, December 22, 2022 



Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE: TSN) employees from its Illinois and South Dakota business units are planning to leave the company.

The move comes as Tyson solidifies its corporate offices to northwest Arkansas in 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The food processing company had said in October it plans to bring together all its corporate team members from the Chicago, Downers Grove and Dakota Dunes area corporate locations to its world headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.

The decision, according to Tyson, is expected to boost closer collaboration, enhance team member agility, and enable faster decision-making.

So, the company asked its workers to decide if they wanted to relocate to Arkansas and gave them time until November 14.

About three-quarters of the 500 employees in the South Dakota office have seemingly decided against moving to Arkansas and are mulling leaving when the company winds up its offices in mid-2023.

Also, over 90% of workers in Chicago did not favor relocating.

The senior vice president of Tyson’s pork business, Leah Andersen, is also expected to leave.

Tyson’s beef and pork division constituted about half of its $53 billion revenue in FY2022.

“I’m confident the plan we have in place ensures business continuity and positions us for long-term success,” said CEO Donnie King.

“We knew there would be a variety of responses when we announced the consolidation of our corporate locations.”

Tyson Foods heir suspended as CFO after second alcohol-related arrest

This Nov. 6, 2022 booking photo provided by the Washington County, Ark., Sheriff's Office shows John Tyson, Tyson Foods chief financial officer, following his arrest for public intoxication. Tyson was arrested again on Thursday, June 13, 2024, for DWI.

 (Washington County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

DEE-ANN DURBIN
Updated Thu, Jun 13, 2024,

Tyson Foods suspended its chief financial officer – a great-grandson of the company’s founder – after his arrest Thursday on charges of driving while intoxicated.

John R. Tyson, 34, was arrested early Thursday by University of Arkansas police in Fayetteville, Arkansas, according to police records. He was also charged with careless driving and making an illegal turn.

Tyson was released from custody later Thursday on a $1,105 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 15.

Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods said in a statement Thursday that it was aware of the arrest and immediately suspended John R. Tyson. He is the son of Tyson Foods Chairman John H. Tyson and a former investment banker who joined Tyson Foods in 2019.

Tyson Foods named Curt Calaway as its interim chief financial officer. Calaway has had an 18-year career at Tyson, most recently serving as treasurer and senior vice president of finance and corporate development.

It was the second time in less than two years that John R. Tyson was arrested on alcohol-related charges. In November 2022, he was charged with public intoxication and criminal trespassing after allegedly entering a stranger’s home in Fayetteville and falling asleep in her bed.

John R. Tyson sent a companywide email apologizing for that incident, saying he was embarrassed and was getting counseling for alcohol abuse. He later pleaded guilty to those charges and settled them by paying fines and court fees.

Arun Sundaram, an equity analyst with the financial research firm CFRA, said John R. Tyson had been considered a potential future CEO, a role that historically has been held by Tyson family members. But Sundaram said there are now “legitimate concerns about his ability to continue as an executive officer.”

Sundaram said Calaway would be “an excellent choice for Tyson's permanent CEO should the company decide to part ways with John R. Tyson.”

Tyson shares fell 1.5% to close at $53.86 Thursday.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for TYSON FOODS 

Nearly 200 COVID-19 cases force Tyson Foods to 'indefinitely suspend' operations at its pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, but the city's mayor says this move came 'too late'

Rhea Mahbubani

A Tyson Fresh Meats plant stands in Waterloo, Iowa, date not known. On Friday, April 17, 2020, more than a dozen Iowa elected officials asked Tyson to close the pork processing plant because of the spread of the coronavirus among its workforce of nearly 3,000 people. (Jeff Reinitz/The Courier via AP) Associated Press
Meat supplier Tyson Foods, Inc. decided on Wednesday to "indefinitely suspend" operations at its pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, which has been blamed for a large COVID-19 outbreak.

Nearly 200 people have tested positive for coronavirus, and others, scared of contracting the disease, have been staying home.

The closure will impact the country's meat supply because "the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers," Tyson Foods said in a statement.

But Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart told CNN that this step came "too late."

Tyson Foods, Inc. announced on Wednesday that it plans to shut down its largest pork plant, located in Waterloo, Iowa, after nearly 200 workers were infected with the coronavirus.

In a press release, the company said it will "indefinitely suspend" operations at the facility where about 2,800 are employed. Team members can return for COVID-19 testing later this week, it added.

In addition to some 180 people who have fallen sick, hundreds — afraid of catching the virus — have stayed home, forcing the plant to cut back on its production levels, the Associated Press reported.

"Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases, and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production," group president Steve Stouffer said

This closure will trigger "significant" ripple effects outside Tyson Foods, Stouffer added, because "the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers. It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation's pork supply."

Although pleased with the plant's closure, Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart told CNN that this step came "too late."

"We went from 21 cases of Covid on April 9 to about 380 yesterday, and we even doubled that number in two days from 191 to 380. So at this point, closing, cleaning, testing people, is the best scenario for it," he said

Hart stressed that battling the coronavirus should be a bipartisan issue.

"It hurts when it feels like your pleas to people falls on deaf ears," he told CNN. " This isn't a political issue. It's not a Republican, not a Democrat [issue]. This is a humanitarian issue. And we needed proactive steps to be able to squash this spread."

Tyson Foods has already shuttered its Columbus Junction pork processing plant in a bid to safeguard employees from COVID-19, after 186 people tested positive for the illness, the Hill reported. Four workers at Tyson Food's poultry processing plant in Georgia died of the coronavirus.

The Waterloo plant alone can process around 19,500 hogs a day, AP said. Its closure, combined with that of the Smithfield Foods pork processing facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is sure to disrupt the meat supply nationwide.

Hart acknowledged that the Waterloo plant's closure will affect the national food chain, but underscored that "in order to be able to stop the spread, this was the best course of action to support the workers that prepare our food," according to CNN.

Multiple sources told Hoosier Ag Today that Tyson Foods is also preparing to shut down its plant in Logansport, where an unknown number of employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. Production was called off on Wednesday, according to the media organization that covers Indiana's agriculture industry. Tyson Foods has not yet confirmed this information.

Tyson Foods closes Iowa plant, will test workers for COVID-19

A healthcare worker administers a COVID-19 test at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

April 22 (UPI) -- Tyson Foods announced Wednesday it's suspending operations at its Waterloo, Iowa, plant after almost 200 workers tested positive for the coronavirus disease.

The Springdale, Ark.-based company said the pork plant closure will be indefinite, depending on the health of its workforce.

Tyson said operations have been running at reduced levels in recent weeks as workers missed work due to ill health. Local officials told The Courier in Waterloo more than 180 employees tested positive for COVID-19 and one died.

The company said it plans to invite the Waterloo workers, which number 2,800, back to the plant later this week for testing.

"Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production," said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats.

"The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers," he added. "It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation's pork supply."

Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart said he's pleased with the company's decision to suspend operations.

"This is the action we have been waiting for," he told The Courier. "Now we must do everything we can to make sure testing and support are in place and personal precautions are maintained. The virus is here. We must all do what we can to contain it."

Tyson said employees at the plant will be paid while it's closed. Other Tyson facilities throughout the country are still in operation, some at reduced levels due to the pandemic.

There have been more than 3,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iowa and 83 deaths, according to The New York Times. Black Hawk County, where the Tyson pork plant is located, has the fourth-highest number of cases in Iowa (366) and two deaths. The county's case growth rate indicates the number of infections has sped up in recent days.

To date, there have been almost 835,000 coronavirus cases in the United States and nearly 46,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

SEE  

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=SMITHFIELD

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=TYSON

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=MEAT+PACKING

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=COVID19

Managers At A Tyson Pork Plant Placed Bets On How Many Workers Would Get COVID-19, A Lawsuit Alleges

"At least one worker at the facility vomited on the production line and management allowed him to continue working and return to work the next day," the lawsuit alleges.

Salvador Hernandez BuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on November 19, 2020

Charlie Neibergall / AP
Managers at a Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa, rejected pleas from local officials to temporarily shut down during the pandemic and placed bets on how many workers would end up getting COVID-19, according to a recently filed lawsuit.


The family of Isidro Fernandez, a worker at the plant who died of COVID-19, filed the lawsuit, alleging Tyson Foods downplayed the spread of the coronavirus among its workforce and incentivized employees to come in when they were sick.

"At least one worker at the facility vomited on the production line and management allowed him to continue working and return to work the next day," the complaint alleges.

Then, as workers were being infected with COVID-19, a plant manager organized a "cash buy-in, winner-take-all" betting pool to see how many workers would end up testing positive for the virus, the complaint said.

The working conditions were so dire at the Waterloo plant, attorneys for Fernandez's family allege a local sheriff said they "shook [him] to the core."

Fernandez, who died on April 20, was one of about 2,800 workers at the facility, which processes more than 19,000 pigs a day, according to the complaint.


The company did eventually shut down operations by April 22 — after all of the hog carcasses from its cooler were processed. But by then, the outbreak had spread through the workforce. Five workers at the plant have so far died, and according to the complaint, the Black Hawk County Health Department has recorded more than 1,000 infections of COVID-19 among Tyson Foods employees.

"We're saddened by the loss of any Tyson team member and sympathize with their families," the company said in a statement to BuzzFeed News about the lawsuit. "Our top priority is the health and safety of our workers and we've implemented a host of protective measures at Waterloo and our other facilities that meet or exceed CDC and OSHA guidance for preventing Covid-19."

The company initially declined to address specific allegations in the lawsuit, including the allegations a plant manager organized the betting pool. But in an additional statement Thursday, the company announced the manager, and other workers allegedly involved in the betting pool were suspended without pay.

"We are extremely upset about the accusations involving some of the leadership at our Waterloo plant," Tyson said in the statement. "We expect every team member at Tyson Foods to operate with the utmost integrity and care in everything we do. We have suspended, without pay, the individuals allegedly involved and have retained the law firm Covington & Burling LLP to conduct an independent investigation led by former Attorney General Eric Holder. If these claims are confirmed, we'll take all measures necessary to root out and remove this disturbing behavior from our company."

Tyson Foods also defended its response to the pandemic, saying it implemented a task force to address the impact of the virus, educated employees in multiple languages, and told workers to stay home if they didn't feel well.

Attorneys for Fernandez's family allege that the company did the opposite, including encouraging workers to finish their shifts when they felt sick and offering bonuses to encourage employees not to call in sick.

Fernandez's family filed the lawsuit earlier this year in state court, but the case was moved to federal court after Tyson Foods argued the plant had remained open during the pandemic at the request of President Donald Trump to preserve the food supply chain.


The amended lawsuit, which was first reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, include allegations that the company disregarded worker safety by not providing adequate safety equipment, making them work on a crowded floor, and incentivizing employees with $500 "thank you bonuses" to keep showing up despite being sick.

Tyson Foods said in its statement that it was one of the first companies to take workers' temperatures before coming into work. The company also said it tried to obtain face masks for its workforce before it was mandated by the CDC, and partnered with a medical clinic services company to set up a clinic on site.

Attorneys for Tyson Foods have said in federal court that company managers have "worked from the very beginning of the pandemic to follow federal workplace guidelines and has invested millions of dollars to provide employees with safety and risk-mitigation equipment."

The complaint alleges that the company failed to distribute adequate protection and only started to implement temperature checks of employees on April 6 — but even then it did not check truck drivers or subcontractors.

"By late-March or early April, Supervisory Defendants and most managers at the Waterloo Facility started to avoid the plant floor because they were afraid of contracting the virus," the complaint alleges. Instead, managers started delegating duties to "low-level supervisors."

Supervisors also told employees they had a "responsibility" to keep showing up to work "in order to ensure Americans don't go hungry."

After local inspectors visited the plant on April 10, they asked Tyson Foods officials to temporarily shut down so they could implement measures to stop the spread of the virus.

The company refused and, around that time, the plant manager "organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19," the complaint alleges.

By April 12, two dozen employees were taken to the emergency room of the local hospital, the complaint alleges. Supervisors were told to show up to work even when they exhibited symptoms of COVID-19. When one supervisor was leaving work to get tested another manager allegedly told him to go back to work, saying, "we all have symptoms—you have a job to do."

Tyson Foods said in its statement that officials with the Black Hawk County Health Department had declined to share information about which employees had tested positive for COVID-19. The information was provided after the onsite visit, the company said, and the plant then made the decision to "idle production and work with state and local health officials to conduct facility-wide testing."



Salvador Hernandez is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.

Exclusive-Tyson Foods plans to sell China poultry business -sources

Kane Wu and Abigail Summerville
Wed, August 16, 2023 


HONG KONG/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. meat and processed food maker Tyson Foods plans to sell its China poultry business, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in the latest case of a multinational firm looking to divest from the country in recent years.

The company has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on the sale and sent preliminary information to potential buyers including a number of private equity firms, said two of the people, adding the sale process was at an early stage.

While it was not immediately clear what valuation Tyson Foods is seeking for the China poultry business, it has annual sales of about $1.1 billion, one of the people said.

Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The sources, who did not say why Tyson was planning to sell the business, declined to be identified because the information was confidential.

Calls to Tyson Foods' China headquarters in Shanghai went unanswered.

Tyson said this month it was evaluating all operations and closing four more U.S. chicken plants in the latest bid to reduce costs after its third-quarter revenue and profit missed Wall Street expectations.

China's meat market has become increasingly challenging, with livestock farm margins squeezed in the last two years due to weak demand during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased feed prices because of the Russia-Ukraine war, analysts have said.

A string of multinational firms have divested their China businesses or pared their holdings in the last few years as some found it hard to reap desired profits amid the country's slower economic growth, strong local competition or geopolitical headwinds, according to bankers.

Foreign companies have divested a combined $8.4 billion of Chinese assets across all sectors so far this year, following $13.5 billion of disposals in 2022, Dealogic data showed.

In the food industry, U.S. agricultural giant Cargill struck a deal in May to sell its China poultry business to private equity firm DCP Capital for an undisclosed price.

British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser Group in 2021 sold its China infant formula and child nutrition business to investment firm Primavera Capital Group for an enterprise value of $2.2 billion.

Dutch dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina kicked off the sale of its Friso infant nutrition brand in December 2021 but has yet to find a buyer. It sold an infant-formula factory in China to local peer Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group in July 2022.

Major Chinese feed and meat producer New Hope Liuhe last month told investors it was reviewing its businesses and considering bringing strategic investors in its poultry and food businesses, in a bid to lower its debt-to-asset ratio.

Tyson Foods opened its first factory in China in 2001 and now has four research and development centres, several processing plants and dozens of breeding farms in the country, according to its website for China operations.

It operates throughout the industry chain in China, from breeding and slaughtering to processing and distribution, providing chicken, beef, pork and processed foods.

The company in June launched a new factory focusing on processed foods such as cooked chicken and pre-made Chinese cuisine in the eastern Chinese city of Nantong and another that focuses on frozen and heat-processed foods in the central Chinese city of Xiaogan, the website showed.

Tyson Foods reported $39.5 billion in total sales for the nine months ended July 1, of which $1.9 billion was from the international and other business segment that includes its China operations.

(Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong, Abigail Summerville in New York and Roxanne Liu in Beijing; Additional reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Jamie Freed)

DIVE BRIEF
Tyson heir CFO pick draws ethical fire

Published Sept. 30, 2022
By
Elizabeth Flood

Associate Editor
“Tysons Food Donation 2012” by Central Texas Food Bank is licensed under CC BY-ND 1.0

Dive Brief:Tyson Foods, Inc.’s promotion of John R. Tyson, son of board chairman John H. Tyson, to the CFO seat could potentially be a conflict of interest, legal experts have said. Tyson, the world’s second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork announced the promotion in a Tuesday filing.
Tyson, 32, has minimal experience in executive financial leadership positions compared to his predecessor, Stewart Glendinning, who took his first CFO position back in 2005 at Molson Coors UK, according to his LinkedIn profile.

 
Tyson previously served as chief sustainability officer for the group from September 2019 until the present. His move to CFO is set to take effect Oct. 2. The promotion comes as the company is struggling to fulfill customer orders amid rising labor, feed ingredients, live animal and freight costs.

Learn why financial leaders must identify the pitfalls and potential impact of current practices to enable a well-informed decision-making process.Download now
Dive Insight:

Experts say the promotion raises questions about a potential conflict of interest, although it does not directly violate any securities regulations.

The main concern lies in whether or not the board will be able to terminate Tyson should he not perform, given the father-son relationship that exists between the chairman and the finance chief.

“A conflict may exist if a situation arises where a Team Member’s or a family member’s personal interest conflicts with the interests of Tyson Foods, or a Team Member uses his or her position at Tyson Foods to achieve personal gain,” reads the company’s Code of Conduct from what appears to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Donnie Smith, then-CEO of the Springdale, Ark.-based company noted in the filing that these guidelines are drawn from existing policies and procedures and that there is “no single document” that can address every situation that may arise. The company asserts that, “You have a duty to avoid a conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict,” per the company website.

“Research on cognitive biases demonstrates that we often think of decisions as ‘business decisions’ rather than ethical ones. One risk here is a ‘slippery slope,’ where the CFO might make small lapses (such sharing company documents that only the CFO might have access to with family members) that grow into larger ones,” said Nicole Coomber, assistant dean and professor of management & organization at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in an emailed response to questions.

Another concern around the appointment is Tyson’s age. The average age for CFOs at the top 1,000 U.S. companies by revenue is 54, according to a Korn Ferry study. The younger John Tyson will take the financial helm at just 32.

“I think we will see more C-suite leaders in their 30s. Experience is a double-edged sword; it can lead us to think we know the right answer when we are faced with situations similar to what we have already experienced,” said Coomber.

Although Tyson has experience as chief sustainability officer at the company, his financial industry experience is limited to various roles in investment banking, private equity and venture capital, including J.P. Morgan from 2012 to 2017, said the company in the SEC filing.

“We can have blind spots when it comes to our loved ones,” said Coomber in an email. “Typically, any family run business where a family member is appointed to leadership needs to make sure they have a transparent governance model, and a family charter that specifically addresses how they will manage any conflicts of interest,” she said.

Former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann notoriously appointed his wife to a high-level marketing position and then allowed her to start a school using company funds, noted Coomber. This is not to say that family members should never be appointed to high level positions, she said.

Tyson Foods has a long history of placing family members in positions of power, making them one of the wealthiest lineages in the U.S., according to Forbes.

Barbara A. Tyson, board director and the elder John Tyson’s aunt, has “substantial personal interest” in Tyson Foods as the sole income beneficiary of the BT 2015 Fund, which is a limited partner in the Tyson Limited Partnership, according to her biography on the company website.

Additionally, John H. Tyson, the new finance chief’s father and chairman of the board has been at his position since 1984 and also has “substantial financial interest” in the company through his interest in the partnership.

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Conflict of Interest | Tyson Code of Conduct

Conflict Of Interest


You have a duty to avoid a conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict. A conflict of interest arises when you have a financial or personal interest that could interfere with your obligation to act in the best interests of the Company, or when you use your position with the Company for personal gain. If we don’t handle potential conflicts of interest properly, these situations can impact the decisions we make, create the appearance of a lack of fairness and integrity, and harm the Company’s reputation. Our Conflict of Interest Policy requires team members and Directors to disclose both actual and perceived conflicts of interest so that others do not question their integrity.

CLICK HERE
Resource Links
Policy Reference & DisclosureQuestions and Answers

Video

POST COVID-19 ROBOTS ARE COMING FOR TYSON JOBS

Tyson Foods names new CEO as coronavirus raises costs

Banks, a former executive at Google-parent Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) experimental research division, will help the company integrate more technology into operations

(Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) named its president, Dean Banks, as its new chief executive on Monday as the meatpacker faces unprecedented disruptions from the COVID-19 outbreak.

FILE PHOTO: Tyson Foods brand frozen chicken wings are pictured in a grocery store freezer in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S. May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

Tyson said Banks will replace 37-year company veteran Noel White in October as it reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales. The company predicted the pandemic will increase operating costs and hinder sales volumes into next year.

Uncertainty over the reopening of the economy confronts Banks, who joined Tyson’s board in 2017 and became president in December 2019.

Tyson Foods wants China to lift ban on U.S. plant with COVID-19 cases

Chairman John Tyson said Banks, a former executive at Google-parent Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) experimental research division, will help the company integrate more technology into operations and focus on employee health.

The novel coronavirus has infected thousands of U.S. meatpacking workers and led to temporary meat shortages as processors like Tyson, JBS (JBSS3.SA) and Smithfield Foods [SFII.UL] closed slaughterhouses in April and May. Plants have reopened, but absences among workers who are afraid of getting sick continue to limit output.
Tyson said it faces reduced demand from restaurants and food-service outlets that has not been offset by stronger meat sales at grocers. The company predicted its chicken and prepared foods segments will suffer lower sales volumes in the last fiscal quarter.


In the third quarter ended June 27, Tyson’s chicken unit reported an adjusted operating loss of $120 million, compared with income of $237 million a year earlier.

“Our level of future growth is dependent on away-from-home eating occasions, which will be impacted by communities opening up and potentially reclosing,” White told analysts on a call.

JP Morgan said it expected the leadership change, although it may spook some investors. Shares were up about 1%.

Tyson’s quarterly sales fell to $10.02 billion from $10.89 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $10.56 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.


Excluding items, Tyson earned $1.40 per share, beating analysts’ estimates for 94 cents.

Tyson said direct costs related to COVID-19 were about $340 million, including employee testing and personal protective equipment.


Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Steve Orlofsky

Animal rights group says chickens were abused, but Tyson Foods cut ties with the farm on its own

By JOSH FUNK

AP

yesterday

The animal rights group Animal Outlook says that a Virginia farm that raised chickens for Tyson Foods mistreated the animals, and one of their investors shot pictures and video documenting the abuse last year. But Tyson says it cut ties with the farm in January after it uncovered animal welfare issues there on its own. (Animal Outlook via AP)

An animal rights group said Wednesday that a Virginia farm that raised chickens for Tyson Foods mistreated the animals, allowing some of them to go without feed and water at times.

But Tyson says it cut ties with the farm in January after it uncovered animal welfare issues there on its own.

The group, Animal Outlook, said it had an investigator working undercover at Jannat Farm from August to November of last year observing as 150,000 birds were raised from chicks until they were ready for slaughter. In addition to seeing chickens go without feed for up to 52 hours, the group said it documented instances of physical abuse and filthy conditions at the farm.

The Associated Press could not immediately locate a contact at the farm itself. A spokesman for Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson, which processes 20% of U.S. beef, chicken and pork, denounced the conditions Animal Outlook documented in video and pictures shot at the farm and said the company ended its contract with the farm because it wasn’t meeting Tyson’s animal welfare standards.

“Since January 2023, no Tyson Foods birds have been placed on this farm and the farmer no longer has a contract to grow for Tyson Foods,” spokesman Derek Burleson said. “We have a longstanding commitment to the welfare, proper handling, and humane treatment and care of animals in our supply chain.”

Animal Outlook’s Executive Director Cheryl Leahy said Tyson should have known about the abuse sooner because the farm had been raising chickens for the meat producer for at least seven years, and the company had a manager overseeing operations there. Plus, Tyson was responsible for delivering the feed chickens went without for more than two days. Video shot by the group’s investigator also shows chickens being thrown and kicked by farm workers and in at least one case a worker ripped off the head of a chicken.

“There is absolutely no excuse,” Leahy said. “The day-to-day suffering of these birds is palpable in each of the videos. Still, Tyson delivered birds, year after year.”

Leahy said she believes Tyson’s decision to end its contract with this farm may have been related more to its decision to shut down a processing plant in the area this spring — not animal welfare concerns.

“It’s very clear that Tyson is an important part of the puzzle here, and the cruelty that we see in this investigation is systemic,” said Leahy, who cited two previous investigations her group has done at farms affiliated with Tyson.

The group filed a complaint with the local district attorney asking for a criminal investigation into the way the chickens were treated that was forwarded on to the state attorney general’s office.

In addition to the abuse Animal Outlook found, the group said this farm failed to follow good biosecurity practices to limit the spread of disease despite the ongoing bird flu outbreak that has prompted officials to slaughter nearly 59 million chickens and turkeys to limit the spread of that virus.

Animal Outlook said workers failed to sanitize their boots in bleach before they entered barns, and some of the buildings had openings that could allow wild animals to get inside. Experts believe bird flu is primarily spread by the droppings of wild birds as they migrate past farms.

The animal rights group said its investigator also found instances of bugs in some of the chicken feed and rats in the barns where the chickens were housed.

___

Josh Funk
Josh covers railroads & Warren Buffett's Berkshire HathawayFunkwritejfunk@ap.org

Follow Josh Funk online at www.twitter.com/funkwrite

Tyson Foods sets net-zero emissions goal, but falls short on farming project
By Tom Polansek 

© Reuters/Mike Blake FILE PHOTO: Tyson food meat products are shown in this photo illustration in Encinitas

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tyson Foods set a goal on Wednesday to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions globally by 2050, after missing a deadline to improve U.S. farming practices as part of an earlier effort to cut emissions.


The new target by the biggest U.S. meatpacker by sales expands a previous goal of reducing emissions by 30% by 2030.

To achieve net-zero emissions, Tyson said it will plan for U.S. operations to use 50% renewable energy by 2030 and extend a program to verify sustainable production practices for cattle, among other steps.

"We believe progress requires accountability and transparency," said John Tyson, chief sustainability officer.

Three years ago, Tyson Foods pledged to improve environmental practices on two million acres (809,370 hectares)of U.S. farmland by 2020. So far, though, it has enrolled just 408,000 acres, according to the company.

Tyson said it now plans to meet its two-million-acre target by 2025.

The company does not own grain farms but has influence over farming as the U.S. meat industry's largest buyer of feed corn. Two million acres is enough land to grow corn to feed all Tyson chickens for a year.

The 408,000 acres represent land enrolled in a 2019 pilot program by Farmers Business Network, which sells agricultural supplies online, according to Tyson.

A pilot program run by another company, MyFarms, enrolled 11,000 acres in 2019, Tyson said. However, Tyson removed these acres last year due to a lack of data and discontinued MyFarms' pilot in 2021, according to the meatpacker.

For Tyson Foods, it was a big learning experience to determine how to obtain "high-quality information about what's going on at the farm in a way that is as frictionless as possible for all parties," John Tyson said.

Interruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic also hindered land stewardship work last year, Tyson said in a sustainability report.

Meatpackers including Tyson came under fire in 2020 as COVID-19 infections tore through slaughterhouses.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; editing by Richard Pullin)

Tyson Foods is ramping up development of robots that can cut meat in response to coronavirus outbreaks in meatpacking plants

Bethany Biron
Jul 11, 2020,

A man shops for meat during the pandemic. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Tyson Foods is accelerating development of robotic technology that will assist with meat processing following a series of coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking facilities around the US. 

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been a total of 16,233 coronavirus cases in meat processing facilities across 23 states. 

Tyson has already invested $500 million in robotics since 2017, but CEO Noel White told the Wall Street Journal the company plans to ramp up these efforts in response to the pandemic. 

SOMEHOW I DON'T THINK THIS IS WHAT TYSON'S HAD IN MIND
In the not-so-distant future, robots may be cutting and processing packaged meat for Americans.

Tyson Foods is reportedly accelerating development of robotic technology designed to handle processes like deboning the 39 million chickens that go through the company's plants each week, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

While the project has been in the works for several years, the meatpacking company increased urgency around the effort in the wake of a rash of coronavirus outbreaks across its facilities starting in May. Tyson, as well as competitors like Smithfield Foods, quickly became hot spots for spreading the virus, sickening workers and prompting temporary closures that led to national meat shortages.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been a total of 16,233 coronavirus cases in meat processing facilities across 23 states in the US. As of July 10, these illnesses have contributed to 86 deaths, the CDC findings show.

"Meat and poultry processing facilities face distinctive challenges in the control of infectious diseases, including COVID-19," the CDC report states. "COVID-19 outbreaks among meat and poultry processing facility workers can rapidly affect large numbers of persons."

Tyson Foods CEO Noel White told the Wall Street Journal that the company has already invested $500 million in robotics since 2017, and has plans to ramp up the project amid the coronavirus. Tyson currently has a dedicated facility on its Springdale, Arkansas headquarters where engineers and scientists are testing and developing meat processing robots.

Tyson is not the only meat behemoth turning its sites to robotics. Competitors like JBC and Pilgrim's Pride have also working on developing similar automated robotic technology in recent years. "They are much closer to what the person can do than seven years ago," JBS CEO Andre Nogueira told the Wall Street Journal.

While automated robots could reduce exposure to the coronavirus and help prevent employees from working in close proximity, some have concerns that they could take the place of human jobs in an economy that has left 21 million Americans unemployed. Further, many of these workers are already earning comparatively low wages to other individuals in similarly hazardous lines of work, at an average of $15.92 an hour. Construction workers, for example, earn an average of $28.51 an hour, according to the US Labor Department.

SEE ALSO: At least 4,500 Tyson workers have caught COVID-19, with 18 deaths. The meat giant still doesn't offer paid sick leave, as the industry blames workers for outbreaks.

CANADIAN SUES TYSON FOODS

Lawsuit says Tyson Foods misled shareholders about COVID-19 protocols

By Jonathan Stempel 

l

© Reuters/Ross Courtney FILE PHOTO: 

Fog shrouds the Tyson slaughterhouse in Burbank, Washington

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. meat and poultry processor Tyson Foods Inc was sued on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding shareholders with misleading disclosures about its ability to combat the spread of the coronavirus in its facilities.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in Brooklyn federal court by Mingxue Guo, who lives in Canada, and seeks unspecified damages for Tyson shareholders from March 13 to Dec. 15, 2020.

It followed a Dec. 15 letter from New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that asked the regulator to investigate Tyson's health and safety disclosures to investors, which include the $229 billion New York City Retirement Systems.

Tyson's share price fell 2.2% on Dec. 15 and 8.5% over five trading days after Stringer accused the company of "flagrantly misrepresenting its poor pandemic response," and called on the SEC to probe Tyson's claims it had been adhering to federal safety guidelines.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson defended the company's handling of the pandemic, saying it has spent more than $500 million on employee safety, including coronavirus tests on thousands of workers a week.

"Our top priority will always be the health and safety of our people," Mickelson said.

Stringer's letter to the SEC cited reports that Tyson had more than three times as many COVID-19 cases--11,087 as of Dec. 3--and twice as many deaths as any other meatpacking company.

Tyson employed about 139,000 people as of Dec. 14 and is based in Springdale, Arkansas.

Other defendants in the lawsuit include Tyson Chief Executive Dean Banks, his predecessor and current Vice Chairman Noel White, and Chief Financial Officer Stewart Glendinning.

The case is Guo v Tyson Foods Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 21-00552.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Tyson Foods to resume limited production at largest U.S. pork plant

FILE PHOTO: A Tyson Foods pork processing plant, temporarily closed due to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen in Waterloo, Iowa, U.S., April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Brenna Norman

(Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) will resume limited production at its largest U.S. pork plant this week, the company said late on Tuesday.


Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, had indefinitely suspended operations at the Waterloo, Iowa plant on April 22 to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus.


The company said all employees returning to work had been tested for COVID-19 and that any employee who tested positive would remain on sick leave until released by health officials to return to work. The statement did not provide further details.

Tyson Foods has also increased short-term disability coverage for employees to 90% of normal pay until June 30, the company said, adding that it had performed an additional deep clean and sanitization of the entire facility while the plant was idled.

The Waterloo plant, which will resume operations on Thursday, had been working at reduced capacity before it was shut late last month as the U.S. food supply chain faced disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak.

Tyson Foods Warns “Food Supply Chain is Breaking” in the United States

"Millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain."



(ZH) — News feeds in April have been inundated with food supply chain disruption stories due to coronavirus-related shutdowns. At least a third of US meatpacking facilities handling hogs have shifted offline this month, other plants that process cows and chickens have also shuttered operations, forcing farmers to cull herds and flocks. This is because each plant closure diminishes the ability for a farmer to sell animals at the market, leaves them with overcapacity issues similar to the turmoil facing the oil industry. Only unlike oil where pumped oil must be stored somewhere (as one can’t just dump it in the nearest river) even if that ends up costing producers money as we saw last Monday when oil prices turned negative for the first time ever, food producers have a simpler option: just killing their livestock.


We previously explained what this imbalance has created: crashing live cattle spot prices while finished meat prices are soaring, which doesn’t just affect farmers but also consumers simultaneously and could spark a shortage of meat at grocery stores as soon as the first week of May.



And in the starkest warning yet that high food prices could last for a long time, Tyson Foods warned in a full-page ad in the New York Times on Sunday that the “food supply chain is breaking.”


“As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain,” wrote Tyson Chairman John Tyson, patriarch of the company’s founding family, in a Tyson Foods website post that also ran as a full-page ad in several newspapers. “The food supply chain is breaking.”



Confirming the worst fears of American pork and bacon consumers, Tyson wrote that the company has been forced to close plants, and that federal, state and local government officials needed to coordinate to allow plants to operate safely, “without fear, panic or worry” among employees. He warned that supply shortages of its products will be seen at grocery stores, as at least a dozen major meatpacking plants close operations for virus-related issues.

Brett Stuart, president of Denver-based consulting firm Global AgriTrends, calls the situation “absolutely unprecedented.”

“It’s a lose-lose situation where we have producers at the risk of losing everything and consumers at the risk of paying higher prices.”

Last week, Smithfield Foods, one of the top pork producers in the world, closed another operation in Illinois. That news came directly after Hormel Foods closed two of its Jennie-O turkey plants in Minnesota. Then it was reported over the weekend that major poultry plants across Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia had reduced hours because of worker shortages due to virus issues. And then on Sunday, JBS USA closed a large beef production facility in Wisconsin.

“During this pandemic, our entire industry is faced with an impossible choice: continue to operate to sustain our nation’s food supply or shutter in an attempt to entirely insulate our employees from risk,” Smithfield said in a statement Friday. “It’s an awful choice; it’s not one we wish on anyone.”

Bloomberg’s map shows the latest closures of meatpacking plants:




Even before the Tyson warnings, last week we cautioned that it was appropriate to label virus outbreaks at meatpacking plants as the “next disaster zones” of the pandemic. This wasn’t just because of workers and USDA inspectors were contracting the virus, and in some cases dying – but because food shortages could also add to social instabilities during a pandemic and economic crisis.

The distress in the agricultural space has not been limited to just livestock. Dairy and produce farmers have had to dump or throw out spoiled products due to a collapse in demand for bulk products, mostly because of shifting supply chains with the closure of restaurants, cruise ships, hotels, resorts, education systems, and anyone else who is not deemed essential in a lockdown.

What this means is that farmers who generally sell bulk products do not have the means at the moment to convert product lines into individual items for direct to consumer selling. This will take time for the conversion. So, in the meantime, with no customers, farmers have to dump.


Politico has outlined some of this disruption:


“Images of farmers destroying tomatoes, piling up squash, burying onions and dumping milk shocked many Americans who remain fearful of supply shortages. At the same time, people who recently lost their jobs lined up for miles outside some food banks, raising questions about why there has been no coordinated response at the federal level to get the surplus of perishable food to more people in need, even as commodity groups, state leaders and lawmakers repeatedly urged the Agriculture Department to step in.”

Tom Vilsack, who served as agriculture secretary during the Obama administration, put it this way: “It’s not a lack of food, it’s that the food is in one place and the demand is somewhere else and they haven’t been able to connect the dots. You’ve got to galvanize people.”

The immediate outcome of this food supply chain collapse will be even more rapid food inflation, hitting Americans at a time of unprecedented economic hardships with at least 26.5 million now unemployed since the pandemic struck the US.

And with a sharp economic recession, if not outright depression unfolding, more Americans are ditching grocery stores for food banks, putting incredible stress on these charities, which has forced the government to deploy National Guard troops at many locations to ensure food security to the neediest.

By Tyler Durden | ZeroHedge.com | Republished with permission

Tyson Foods closing four chicken processing plants in a cost-cutting move


By Karen Graham
Published August 7, 2023

Tyson Foods is closing four more chicken processing plants. Credit - Fkbowen, CC SA 4.0.

Tyson Foods, hurt by falling chicken and pork prices as well as slowing demand for its beef products, is closing four chicken plants.

Tyson Foods missed Wall Street expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on Monday, with shares down nearly 6 percent premarket.

Net quarterly sales fell 3% to $13.14 billion, below analysts’ expectations of $13.59 billion, according to Refinitiv data. The company’s average sales prices fell 16.4% for pork and 5.5% for chicken while rising 5.2% for beef.

The company said Monday that the four chicken processing plants being closed are located in North Little Rock, Arkansas; Corydon, Indiana; Dexter, Missouri and Noel, Missouri.

In its attempt to lower costs this year, Tyson has already cut corporate jobs and shuttered other chicken plants, as it struggles with declining profits and reduced demand from consumers squeezed by inflation and higher interest rates.

Last year, the company hiked prices due to spiraling feed and labor costs, but in 2023, it was hit by lower prices in core protein segments, such as pork.

The company has also struggled to predict sales and previously said reduced demand for beef made it difficult to pass on higher costs to consumers.

“Chicken, beef, and pork all face different types of macro and market challenges,” Chief Financial Officer John R. Tyson said in an interview. “That’s persisted for a little while.”

Tyson expects the closing chicken plants to stop operating in the company’s first two quarters of fiscal 2024. It estimates total charges of $300 million to $400 million from the closures.

Tyson wrongly predicted last year that demand for chicken would be strong at supermarkets in November and December, Chief Executive Donnie King said in February. In January, the company replaced the president of its poultry business.

Tyson Foods, Beyond Meat face off with new plant-based burgers
By Tom Polansek 

3/5/2021

© Reuters/MIKE BLAKE FILE PHOTO: Vegetarian sausages from Beyond Meat Inc, the vegan burger maker, are shown for sale at a market in Encinitas, California

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc is launching plant-based hamburgers and sausages ahead of the summer grilling season, the company said on Monday, increasing competition for Beyond Meat as it releases an updated version of its own faux burger.


Purveyors of plant-based meat are seeking to boost sales as COVID-19 vaccinations encourage more people to eat at restaurants and gather for backyard cookouts and other events.

Companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods aim to meet consumer demands for more climate-friendly diets, but sales of some of their products have slowed more recently as the plant-based trend cools.

Tyson Foods, the biggest U.S. producer of animal meat by sales, introduced its first plant-based products in 2019. It is adding burger patties, bratwurst, Italian sausage and ground "meat" made from pea protein to its offerings, according to a statement.

The burgers, marketed under Tyson's Raised & Rooted brand, will be sold in packages of two quarter-pound patties at a suggested retail price of $4.99.

Tyson is making another attempt at an alternative burger after phasing out a patty last year that was a blend of beef and plants.

Beyond Meat, meanwhile, is launching a new version of its plant-based Beyond Burger at grocery stores nationwide this week, it said in an April 27 statement.

Packages of two quarter-pound patties have a suggested retail price of $5.99, while new packs of four patties have a suggested price of $9.99, according to the company. A one-pound Beyond Beef pack will also be sold.

Beyond Meat already sells plant-based bratwurst and Italian sausage.

Its updated burger is juicier and "BBQ-ier" than a previous version and resembles the flavor of ground beef, according to the company. Each Beyond Burger patty has 20 grams of protein, compared to 21 grams per serving for Tyson's burger.

"Our products are plants made meatier," said David Ervin, vice president of marketing for Tyson's Raised & Rooted brand.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

Laid-off: Former Tyson Foods chicken farmers face high costs switching to eggs

By Tom Polansek

April 30, 2024

REUTERS

 A worker sorts cage-free chicken eggs at Hilliker's Ranch Fresh Eggs in Lakeside, California, U.S., April 19, 2022. Picture taken April 19, 2022. 

REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

CHICAGO, April 30 (Reuters) - Some U.S. farmers who once raised chickens for Tyson Foods to slaughter are shifting to sell eggs instead after the meatpacker closed six plants, a move that left local suppliers with limited options for work.

In one example, former Tyson suppliers in central Virginia formed a cooperative that will produce cage-free eggs for Indiana-based Dutch Country Organics on a dozen farms, after Tyson closed its nearby Glen Allen plant last year.

In Dexter, Missouri, the world's biggest egg company, Cal-Maine Foods (CALM.O), opens new tab, in March finalized a deal to buy another chicken meat plant Tyson shuttered. Cal-Maine recruited local farmers to produce eggs.

The switch to eggs, which carries high costs, reflects the tough choices former Tyson suppliers around the country must make following the company's 2023 decision to shut plants in an effort to return to profitability in its chicken business after misjudging consumer demand.

Egg farming also comes with risk as lethal bird flu infections have hit laying hens harder than broiler chickens raised for meat. The virus flared up for a third year this spring, resulting in the culling of nearly 10 million hens involved in commercial egg production so far this year. Cal-Maine culled about 1.9 million, opens new tab birds this month after an outbreak in Texas.

MILLIONS TO UPGRADE
Former broiler growers must spend millions of dollars on barn and equipment upgrades to produce eggs, a notoriously volatile market, 18 poultry producers, government officials and industry experts told Reuters. Last year, egg prices tanked after reaching record highs due to the worst-ever outbreak of bird flu in poultry.

"It's a very expensive investment from the grower," said John Bapties, who is president of the Central Virginia Poultry Cooperative and raised chickens for Tyson for 20 years before the Glen Allen plant closed.

His cooperative is placing hens in barns that formerly housed broiler chickens, and expects to sell cage-free eggs produced by about one million birds to Dutch County Organics within a year, he said.

Farmers needed to replace dirt floors in barns with concrete and install nesting systems for hens, among other costly renovations.

Taylor Lee, a former Tyson grower in DeWitt, Virginia, said he decided against the switch. He will focus on raising crops while keeping his poultry barns empty for now.
"They're painting a pretty picture with that co-op but it's $2.8 million roughly to upgrade my farm to egg production," Lee said.

Roger Reynolds, another Virginia farmer who supplied broiler chickens to Tyson, said he is considering producing eggs for Braswell Family Farms. His daughter found work there after Tyson's plant closure eliminated her job.

Producing eggs means a different way of life, Reynolds said. For one thing, hens lay most of their eggs in the morning, meaning farmers cannot go to church on a Sunday without checking their barns first, he said.

CAGE-FREE EGGS

The United States has about 125 million cage-free laying hens, about 40% of total layers, U.S. government data show. More are needed after some states banned sales of eggs from caged hens and restaurants committed to cage-free supplies, Dutch Country Organics CEO Lamar Bontrager said.

"I've been getting calls like crazy," Bontrager said. "Those guys are all concerned of where to procure their eggs."

Dutch Country sells eggs to retailers including Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab, Kroger (KR.N), opens new tab and Target (TGT.N), opens new tab, according to Virginia officials.
Former broiler growers offer egg companies an opportunity to expand production because the farmers are already familiar with poultry.

"It's one of the ways that these companies are converting: by grabbing old barns," said Brian Moscogiuri, global trade strategist for Eggs Unlimited.

Tyson declined to comment. The company said last year that 55 broiler growers supplied the Glen Allen plant and that it offered them buyout packages. The plant had about 700 employees.

Tyson has laid off corporate employees and said it will close an Iowa pork plant, in addition to shutting chicken plants. Farmers depended on the plants as markets for their livestock.

The meatpacker is slated to report quarterly results on Monday.

In Arkansas, the third biggest broiler-producing state, Tyson closed two chicken plants. Some of its former growers found work supplying other chicken companies, said Jared Garrett, Arkansas Farm Bureau's director of commodity activities and economics.
"They lucked out," he said.

JOBS WANTED

Tyson closed chicken plants in Dexter and Noel, Missouri, with about 700 workers and 1,500 workers, respectively. Cal-Maine said it plans to initially employ about 100 people at the Dexter plant.

"While I welcome Cal-Maine's investment in Dexter, it does not right the wrongs of Tyson or guarantee new jobs for the more than 2,000 Missourians now out of one," U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said in a statement to Reuters.

David Wyman, Dexter's city administrator, also welcomed Cal-Maine, though it is expected to work with a fraction of the farmers who supplied Tyson. Cal-Maine said it expects to expand over time and that revenue opportunities will be as good or better than farmers had under previous contracts.

But some former Tyson suppliers are left with empty barns, Wyman said: "They're really in bad shape."

Egg farming is generally harder to get into operationally than raising chickens for meat; requires more capital and labor expertise; and carries higher disease risks, said Wendong Zhang, an assistant professor and agricultural economist at Cornell University.
"Due to the closure of the plants and termination of contracts, the switch is in a way a move of necessity," he said.

Get weekly news and analysis on the U.S. elections and how it matters to the world with the newsletter On the Campaign Trail. Sign up here.


Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Anna Driver