NOBULL: Drought claims another victim: Cargill to close a Texas feedlot — Drought is a convenient excuse…
I guess Cargill couldn’t say they closed their meat plant and feedlot because they have put producers out of business with their abusive market power. MC
Drought claims another victim: Cargill to close a Texas feedlot
By Meatingplace Editors on 10/17/2013
Cargill will close its Lockney, Texas, feedlot next summer due to the ongoing impact of drought in the area, spokesman Michael Martin told Meatingplace.
The 62,000-head feedlot about 15 miles east of Cargill’s idled Plainview beef processing plant has employed as many as 45 people. The Lockney feedlot also supplies cattle to Cargill’s Friona beef processing facility in the Texas Panhandle. The company operates two other feedlots in the area, in Bovina and Dalhart.
Cargill has no plans to close any other beef-related facilities in the region, Martin said in an email.
“The reason for the closure is the ongoing impact of drought to the region’s depleted cattle supply. In addition to the other feedlots Cargill owns in the region, and non-Cargill feedlots we buy cattle from, we will continue to buy cattle on the spot market to ensure Friona has an adequate supply,” Martin said.
The exact date for the closing has not been set, but the company is offering employees jobs at other Cargill operations in the region, Martin said.