Tyson Foods says that it's planning to close a beef processing plant in Nebraska, as the meat industry giant struggles with increased costs and dwindling cattle inventories.

According to The New York Times, Tyson's decision to shut down its Lexington, Nebraska, facility — which employs 3,000 people — comes from a need to "right-size its beef business." The company also plans to downsize operations at a separate plant in Amarillo, Texas, by taking the facility down to a single shift a day.

Earlier in November, Tyson said that it expected to see operating losses as high as $600 million on beef in the next fiscal year, with CEO Donnie King blaming record lows in cattle inventories due to drought, and a confirmed case of New World screwworm in Mexico, which has slowed the flow of beef across the border. U.S. beef prices have also soared to record highs in 2025, with the average price of a pound of ground beef rising above $6 for the first time since data collection began in the 1980s.

The industry has faced pressure from the Trump administration as well, with the White House announcing a price-fixing probe into Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef on November 7. In the initial announcement, President Donald Trump accused the four companies of coordinating with each other to artificially inflate prices for consumers, and slash payments to ranchers.