North Platte Post/Sandhills Post
When Tyson Foods announced last month it would close its longtime beef processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska, the news sent shockwaves across the state and prompted sharp responses from local and state officials. But the same corporate announcement also included another major development — one affecting more than 1,700 workers nearly 600 miles away.
On the same day Tyson unveiled the Lexington closure, the company also confirmed it would eliminate the B-shift at its beef facility in Amarillo, Texas, cutting approximately 1,761 jobs and consolidating the plant into a single full-capacity shift beginning early next year.
The dual actions were part of the same restructuring plan aimed at “right-sizing” Tyson’s beef business, which the company says has faced mounting pressure from a shrinking U.S. cattle herd, tight market conditions, and prolonged financial losses.
A second blow hidden in the same release
While Nebraska leaders quickly responded to the Lexington announcement — calling it “devastating,” “unacceptable,” and urging Tyson to work with local communities — the Amarillo layoffs landed with equal force in Texas.
According to Tyson, the Amarillo cuts will take effect around January 20, 2026, impacting workers across the region and significantly reducing the facility’s operations. The plant will continue with one full shift, but economic officials in the Texas Panhandle have already described the layoffs as a major setback for a community strongly tied to agriculture and food processing.
Both the Lexington closure and the Amarillo cuts were detailed in the same November 21 network-changes press release from Tyson Foods — but much of Nebraska understandably focused on the in-state consequences. The inclusion of Amarillo makes clear that the challenges facing Tyson’s beef division are not isolated and extend across multiple states and rural communities.
What was already known: Tyson’s financials signaled trouble earlier in the month
Tyson’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results were released 11 days before the Lexington and Amarillo announcement, and those numbers hinted strongly at what was coming.
The company reported annual sales of $54.44 billion, an increase of 2.1% over the previous year. Adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share climbed sharply, driven by strong performance in chicken and prepared foods. But the beef segment stood out as a growing concern. In its outlook for fiscal 2026, Tyson projected an adjusted operating loss of $400–600 million for beef — a sobering figure that underscored the financial stress caused by tight cattle supplies, record cattle prices, and squeezed processing margins.
Those financial indicators help explain why the Lexington closure and Amarillo layoffs were paired together and why both actions are tied to the same broader industry issues.
Regional implications for Nebraska and Texas
For Nebraska, the Lexington closure raises concerns about job losses, fewer regional processing options, longer travel distances for cattle, and downstream economic impacts on suppliers, transportation companies, and local businesses.
The Amarillo announcement mirrors many of those same concerns. Community leaders in Texas say the elimination of the B-shift will reshape the local workforce landscape and strain families and neighborhoods that rely on the facility’s steady employment.
The pairing of these two actions — affecting two major beef-processing communities hundreds of miles apart — signals deeper challenges for the central U.S. beef corridor as processors confront high input costs and limited livestock supplies.
Tyson says support is coming, but questions remain
Tyson reports it is offering impacted employees resources, job-placement assistance, and opportunities at other company facilities where possible. Leaders in both Lexington and Amarillo say they are continuing to evaluate economic impacts and coordinate workforce strategies as the January transition approaches.
With cattle supplies remaining historically tight and beef margins under pressure, communities across the central U.S. will be watching closely to see whether more changes are in store. The Lexington and Amarillo decisions — announced together but felt far apart — are tied by the same industry pressures that are reshaping the beef sector across multiple states.
For Nebraska, the Amarillo layoffs provide important context to a story that isn’t just local, but part of a much larger national trend.
