Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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A spokesman for Tyson Foods says that a reduction of operational hours at a Columbus Junction plant aren’t indicative of anything but a fluctuating marketplace.
“Due to supply and demand fundamentals, we currently plan to run some of our pork plants at reduced hours next week,” said Gary Mickelson, Tyson‘s media spokesman.
The Columbus Junction plant, located in Louisa County, did not operate on Monday. Although Tyson also operates three additional Iowa plants, the company has not released detailed information about possible production reductions at those sites.
“What I can tell you is that this type of reduction is not necessarily unusual,” Mickelson added.
Pork plants throughout the nation are feeling more pinch as current market conditions, marked by a hog surplus, have created a situation with low demand and small profit margins. Reducing production of meat is one way to combat the problem.
Last month another of Iowa’s key pork players, Smithfield Foods, reported its first full-year net loss since the 1970s. The company cut its breeding herds last year by 10 percent and plans an additional cut this year to help diminish the current oversupply. Smithfield announced in February that it could close six plants by December and cut nearly 2,000 jobs as a part of a restructuring process. According to a report in the Kansas City Star, the company’s Sioux City and Sioux Falls, S.D. plants are contenders for the chopping block.
Mickelson, when asked specifically by The Iowa Independent if the hour reductions at Tyson were indicitive of possible discussions of plant closings, said that they were not.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that May pork exports took a 36 percent dive from the same time a year ago. Some countries such as China and Russia restricted pork imports in the wake of the H1N1 virus in April.
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