Packer
Project includes state-of-the-art fabrication floor and an expanded ground beef room.
Beef has built a rapidly widening price gap over competing meats in the grocery store. This trend has become increasingly pronounced since the early 2000s, but as beef supplies have tightened over the past three years, the pace of the widening price disparity has accelerated.
2026 will be a year of beef demand shifting not disappearing.
CattleFax’s Patrick Linnell predicts a slow, cautious rebuild as aging producers, labor shortages and volatility reshape expansion decisions.
In 2026, imports decide how painful the grind gets, exports decide whether the carcass pencils, and policy decides how fast everything can change.
Closure will affect 221 employees, with layoffs starting April 11 and the grind facility closing around May 31.
As carcass weights hit new highs, experts warn that efficiency gains bring unintended welfare risks in transport, feedlots and packing plants — and call for targeted investments, better infrastructure and data‑driven management of every animal.
2026 is not the year the cattle cycle “fixes itself.” It is the year the industry learns how to ration a smaller supply base without blowing itself up.
Protein is back on top. Ground beef might be the quiet winner, with imports doing the heavy lifting.
National Agricultural Law Center summarizes key issues from 2025.
UNL predicts closure will result in $3.28 billion in annual statewide economic losses. The analysis projects more than 7,000 jobs lost statewide, including 3,212 plant positions, along with significant reductions in labor income and state and local tax revenues.
Imagine the media, special interest groups and politicians get their way.
Today’s concentration is real, but it’s not the same beast as early 1900s concentration because the governance environment is radically different: stronger safety laws, stronger enforcement, more transparency, more consequences.
Terrain’s Dave Weaber says placements of cattle into feedlots will continue to shrink, long-feared beef slaughter capacity reductions have arrived, and the beef cow herd hasn’t begun to expand.
Swift Beef Co. plans to close its case-ready facility in Riverside, Calif., effective Feb. 2.
The “Big 4" packers are on trial to determine if they suppress cattle bids in a thin cash market, underpay farmers and ranchers, and control what consumers pay for beef.
The company’s Fort Morgan plant employees are benefiting from its innovative housing investment.
Foreign-controlled packers are on trial to determine if their ability to own U.S. plants and import product from affiliated foreign operations allows them to shape domestic prices and supply to the detriment of U.S. producers and consumers.
The announcement to close the Lexington, Neb., plant and transition to one shift in Amarillo shocked the beef industry. While local impacts will be significant, analysts urge producers to remain calm as the market fundamentals steady following the reaction.
The company will end operations in early 2026 in the plant that employs nearly 3,200 people and can slaughter almost 5,000 cattle a day and convert its Amarillo, Texas, beef facility to a single, full-capacity shift.
Were beef price spikes the product of an agreement between meatpackers rather than the predictable result of herd cycles, external events and plant utilization?
Strong demand supports beef prices amid economic volatility, but herd investment and growth slows as producers grapple with increasing uncertainty due to political noise.
Oklahoma State’s Derrell Peel says the beef industry needs time — not politics or policy — to solve beef supply and demand realities.
Let’s debunk three claims about the beef packing industry.
President Trump orders an immediate investigation into major meatpackers over high prices and price manipulation.
The legislation has been reintroduced to expand local beef sales and reduce red tape for small meat processors.
Meat Institute report analyzes the state of beef cattle markets and points out current pricing myths.