CHICAGO — Tyson Foods said on Monday it is closing four more U.S. chicken plants, including two in Missouri, in its latest effort to cut costs.
The meat company has grappled with declining profits and struggled to improve results in its chicken business.
Tyson said it would move the work performed in the plants to newer facilities that are closer to its customers, but declined to say how many employees were affected.
The closing facilities are located in North Little Rock, Arkansas; Corydon, Indiana; Dexter, Missouri; and Noel, Missouri.
The Dexter plant, which employs about 600, is in Stoddard County, in southeast Missouri; the Noel plant, which employed more than 1,100 in 2020, is in McDonald County in the state’s southwestern corner, near the Arkansas border.
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“These moves are difficult certainly,” Chief Financial Officer John R. Tyson said in an interview before quarterly earnings. “For the long term of Tyson, this is a move that should allow us to be better, more efficient and serve our customers better.”
He declined to say whether more plant closures are possible.
Tyson in May closed two other chicken plants with almost 1,700 employees.
In April, Tyson said it would eliminate about 10% of corporate jobs and 15% of senior leadership roles. The company also laid off corporate employees in Chicago and South Dakota who declined to relocate to Tyson’s headquarters in Arkansas.
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