Commissioner Sid Miller: While Good News for Amarillo Facility, Tyson Restructuring Is a Wake-Up Call for America’s Cattle Industry

AUSTIN – Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller today responded to Tyson Foods’ announcement that it is restructuring its U.S. beef operations amid historically tight cattle supplies, warning that the move demonstrates the mounting consequences of America’s shrinking cattle herd and prolonged disruptions to cattle trade with Mexico. While welcoming Tyson’s continued investment in its Amarillo facility, Commissioner Miller said the federal government’s extended shutdown of cattle imports at the southern border has further strained feedlots, processors, producers, and rural communities at a time when the industry can least afford it.

The following statement may be attributed to Commissioner Sid Miller:

“Tyson’s announcement should be a wake-up call for anyone who cares about the future of the American cattle industry. We are living through one of the most severe cattle shortages in our nation’s history, and now we’re seeing the consequences ripple through the entire beef supply chain. Plants are closing, operations are consolidating, workers and communities are being affected, and cattle producers are facing enormous challenges.

USDA needs to acknowledge the role the prolonged shutdown of cattle trade at our southern border has played in making a bad situation worse. For more than a year, we cut off an important source of feeder cattle at exactly the moment America’s cattle inventory was already historically tight. That decision squeezed feedlots, processors, producers, and ultimately American consumers.

Shutting down cattle trade with Mexico was never a substitute for an aggressive strategy to eradicate the New World screwworm. We have paid the economic price of a closed border, disrupted a cattle supply chain built over generations and screwworm still made it into the United States.

The decision to finally begin slowly reopening the border to the cattle trade is welcome, but it is overdue, and the damage will not be undone overnight. Tyson’s restructuring is another reminder that decisions made in Washington have real consequences in cattle country.

There is good news for Texas: Tyson is doubling down on its Amarillo facility and plans to bring a second shift back online as cattle become available. That is a strong vote of confidence in Texas cattle, Texas producers, and the Panhandle’s role as the beating heart of America’s beef industry.

Texas produces the best beef on earth. It’s time for USDA to start giving American ranchers, feeders, and processors the tools they need to grow.”

To read Tyson’s announcement, click here.

###