Cargill to temporarily idle 2 protein processing facilities for maintenance

Cargill has announced the planned, temporary idling of two protein processing facilities for scheduled maintenance. Each facility’s idling is unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cargill recently idled its Dodge City, Kansas, location and on March 18, the company will idle its Schuyler, Nebraska, facility. Both sites are primary processing operations and will be down for approximately one week to perform previously scheduled maintenance of the refrigeration systems.

“We have been in communication with producers in advance of the idling to work with them to ship cattle to other facilities within our robust supply chain or make accommodations to process as many cattle before the maintenance work commences,” said Jarrod Gillig, supply chain lead for Cargill’s North American protein business, Wichita, Kansas. “We will continue to fulfill all customer orders and do not anticipate disruptions to their operations.”

Working in partnership with each local union chapter, Cargill employees will be paid during the idle time as outlined in their collective agreement. To prevent food waste, each facility will process all cattle on site before the temporary idling begins.