CHICAGO – Tyson's Dakota City, Neb. beef plant was temporarily closed on Saturday, June 4 and Monday, June 6 to allow its employees to address any personal property issues they are facing from flooding in the region.

“We intend to resume normal operations in full next Tuesday, June 7, through Saturday, June 11, and resume business as usual unless circumstances in the region dictate additional changes,” Tyson spokesman Worth Sparkman said. “The Dakota City Beef plant and its support operations and roads servicing the plant do not show any threat with any flood water inundation projections. This change in schedule is entirely to provide our team members time to address potential issues with their personal property.”


On June 1, Tyson Foods Inc. shot down rumors in Chicago cattle markets that Missouri River flooding may force its Tyson Fresh Meats’ Dakota City plant to suspend production indefinitely. At the time, evacuations were taking place in low-lying areas of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa as the Missouri River continued rising.

“According to the latest estimates, even under a worst-case-scenario, flood waters will not reach sufficient elevations to affect Tyson’s Dakota City beef plant at all,” spokesperson Gary Mickelson told MEATPOULTRY.com earlier this week. “The plant is running now and we currently expect it to continue operating.”