Tyson Foods says it will close its meat processing plant in Emporia, which employs 800 people. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, said the decision will have a significant impact on the regional economy. Tyson Foods employs more than 5,000 people at its facilities in Kansas. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA – U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said he was disappointed that Tyson Foods would permanently close a meat plant in Emporia that employs more than 800 people.
Tyson Foods said its ground beef and value-added marinated protein plant would close in February 2025 to help the company operate more efficiently.
In the fiscal year ending September 2023, the company’s beef division had income of $233 million. The unit reported a loss of $291 million in the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in September.
“The news that Tyson is closing its Emporia plant breaks my heart,” said Marshall, a member of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee. “This is devastating news for these families and the community, especially around Christmas.”
Marshall said the Tyson Foods plant was one of the largest employers in the Emporia area. His office had been in contact with the city of Emporia and “we are doing everything we can to help these individuals find good jobs.”
Tyson Foods employs more than 5,000 people across a series of factories in Kansas.
The formal notice of the Emporia decision was triggered by a notice to the state of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Ernesto Sanchez, vice president of Tyson Foods’ beef and pork operations, sent a letter to Emporia officials saying the decision was part of “the company’s business strategy to operate more efficiently.”
The giant meatpacker said in a statement that the plant’s closure would have a substantial impact on the Emporia community and its employees. As many as 200 Emporia plant workers could be absorbed into Tyson’s Holcomb operation, officials said.
“Caring for our team members is our top priority and we encourage them to apply for other open positions within the company,” the Tyson Foods statement said. “We are also working closely with state and local officials to provide additional resources to those affected.”
Tyson Foods has been challenged by market forces, including declining livestock numbers and higher livestock processing costs. The company did not indicate that the closure of the Emporia plant was related to promises by newly elected President Donald Trump to crack down on undocumented immigration.
The elimination of 800 jobs in Emporia would follow layoffs involving thousands of Tyson workers, amid the closure of six U.S. chicken plants and a pork plant in Iowa since early 2023.
In 2017, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and government officials in Leavenworth County announced a deal calling for Tyson Foods to invest $320 million in a new chicken processing plant, hatchery and feed mill near Tonganoxie that would employ 1,600 people. The public backlash prompted Tyson Foods to halt the development project.
