Cargill to close its Milwaukee beef plant [Aug. 1 2014]

Jul 31, 2014

Cargill recently announced that it would close its beef facility located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, effective August. 1, 2014.

According to Cargill, tight cattle supply prompted the closure. The supply and demand issue is believed to be caused by cattle ranchers retaining their cows and heifers for herd expansion. In the U.S., beef cattle herds are also at their lowest level since 1951, with a significant nationwide herd expansion being years away.

“Closing our Milwaukee beef plant is taking place only after we conducted an 18-month-long analysis of the region’s cattle supply and examined all other possible options,” John Keating, president of Cargill Beef said in a release.

The plant employs approximately 600 people.

On the site, the ground beef plant will remain open to meet customer needs, and has a workforce of approximately 200 people. Cargill says that its six other U.S. beef processing plants are unaffected by the Milwaukee closure. The remaining plants are located in California, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

Cargill had purchased the beef plant in 2001, which had the processing capacity of 1,300 to 1,400 cattle a day. The company says that for the 600 people affected by the plant closure, it will be offering opportunities to fill positions at other company locations. Individuals who relocate to fill positions at other Cargill locations will receive financial assistance and Cargill employees who are deemed displaced will be provided professional support.

In a release, the company said it will continue to honour its community commitments in the region through until the end of 2014.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.