- Tyson Foods is one of the largest poultry producers in the United States.
- In July, the company announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell its Georgia poultry complex to House Of Raeford Farms.
- There is also an ongoing dispute over another sale – the Tyson Foods plant in Missouri to Cal-Maine Foods.
- The heir to the fortune, the founder's great-grandson, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and was therefore dismissed from the position of financial director in the company.
Sale of Georgia plant
House of Raeford Farms intends to continue processing poultry at the newly acquired plant while maintaining its current employment. In turn, Tyson Foods' decision is driven by the desire to optimize production costs. Recently, the company also closed eight other meat plants and dismissed some employees, reports Reuters. In March, the company announced it was closing a pork plant in Perry, Iowa, eliminating about 1,200 jobs.
Last October, a North Carolina poultry processing plant laid off 250 workers out of 3,000 team members.
Dispute between Tyson Foods and farmers and politicians
This year, Cal-Maine Foods acquired, among others: broiler processing plant, hatchery and feed mill in Missouri, USA, which were closed by Tyson Foods in August 2023. Cal-Maine plans to increase capital spending but also transform manufacturing. Operations are expected to start in the summer of 2024. However, a lawsuit was filed in June by poultry producers who argued that the closure and subsequent sale of the processing plant was inconsistent with market practices. Now Missouri politicians have joined the fight against Tyson Foods in Dexter. The following people commented on this matter, among others: Senator Josh Hawley and Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
On July 9, Hawley wrote to Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King, alleging that King intentionally misled him and others by telling them the company would consider selling its broiler processing plant, hatchery and feed mill to a competitor. The lawsuit alleges that Tyson Foods instead made the sale to a non-competitor in order to reduce the supply of chicken and raise market prices because Cal-Maine Foods produces eggs but does not process chicken. Farmers are losing out on this sale and are warning that they are unable to transform production without incurring costs and taking out large loans – reports columbiamissourian.com.
Tyson Foods heir arrested and suspended from the company
According to Reuters, the company suspended its chief financial officer, John R. Tyson, on July 13 after police in Arkansas arrested him and charged him with driving while intoxicated. This was the second time in less than two years that the great-grandson of the company's founder, John W. Tyson, had been detained. On the same day in the afternoon, shares of the Springdale, Arkansas-based company fell 1.8% to $53.75. The heir to the Tyson fortune pleads not guilty. The criminal trial is scheduled to start on August 28.
