JUNE 5, 2023:
WINDOM, Minn. (AP) — An Iowa company that bid $13 million to buy a bankrupt slaughterhouse in Minnesota says it will not retain nearly 1,000 workers if a court approves the auction sale. Premium Iowa Pork, based in Hospers, Iowa, made the winning bid for a plant in Windom, Minnesota. The plant, currently owned by HyLife Foods, is the largest employer in Windom. Many of the workers are immigrants who have been in the U.S. on worker visas. An attorney for HyLife says the deal is subject to court approval. Premium Pork did not say in court filings what it plans to do with the plant.
Extended version:
WINDOM, Minn. (AP) — An Iowa pork producer says it it will not keep more than 1,000 employees at a bankrupt Minnesota plant if a judge approves its winning bid to purchase the business.
Premium Iowa Pork, based in Hospers, Iowa, bid $13 million to buy the slaughterhouse in Windom, which is the largest employer in the southwestern Minnesota town. The plant was scheduled to close Saturday (June 3, 2023), the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Stacey Ashley, a spokesperson for HyLife, which owns the Windom plant, confirmed in an email that the company had a buyer, pending court approval.
She also confirmed Premium Iowa Pork will not retain Windom employees, many of whom are immigrants who came to work at the plant on worker visas. She said the company will “arrange transportation” for those employees back to their home countries.
The Star Tribune reported 450 of the plant’s workers were brought to Windom from foreign countries, with a large percentage from Guanajuato, Mexico.
Premium Iowa Pork did not say in court filings what it plans to do with the plant.
HyLife’s attorney said he expected the sale to be finalized by Wednesday in time for a hearing on Friday.
When it announced that it planned to sell the plant, HyLife cited inflation, high grain costs, foreign exchange rates and the plant’s operational losses.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Horan did approve an agreement to sell about 20,000 finisher hogs to AgriSwine Alliance of Aberdeen, South Dakota, for about $1.3 million.
APRIL 13, 2023:
WINDOM, Minn. (AP) — Owners of a pork processing plant in southern Minnesota say more than 1,000 people could lose their jobs if a new owner isn’t found soon. HyLife Foods filed a notice this week that it has not been able to improve business at its Windom operation. The company cited inflation, high grain costs and operational losses as some reasons it has not been profitable. About 1,007 employees would be laid off if the plant closes. Immigrants are a large portion of the workforce at the plant. The company said layoffs could begin Monday (April 17, 2023) and end by June 2.
Extended version:
WINDOM, Minn. (AP) — Owners of a pork processing plant in southern Minnesota said more than 1,000 people are in danger of losing their jobs if a new owner for the plant is not found soon.
HyLife Foods filed notice with the state this week that its efforts to improve business at its Windom plant have been unsuccessful, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
In a memo to the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development, HyLife said it has faced challenges from inflation, high grain costs, foreign exchange rates and the plant’s operational losses.
“For some time now, the company has been exploring several strategic options that would have enabled it to continue go-forward operations despite these financial challenges. Unfortunately, so far, these efforts have not been successful,” the letter says.
Minnesota businessman Glen Taylor and other investors bought the former beef-packing plant in 2016. Canada-based HyLife bought 75% ownership of the plant from Taylor Corp., which is based in Mankato, in 2020.
Glen Taylor, who owns the Minneapolis Star Tribune, sold his remaining ownership of the pork plant earlier this year.
The Windom plant can process 1.2 million hogs annually — about a third of HyLife’s processing capacity.
“Our vision, investments and strong community involvement are a testament that we intended to be here for the long run,” HyLife CEO Grant Lazaruk said in a statement Tuesday. “This is an extremely hard week, and we are unquestionably sad. We are doing our best to share the information we currently have.”
The company said 1,007 would be laid off if the plant closes. Like many processing plants in rural Minnesota, immigrants are a major portion of the workforce. None of them are represented by a union.
Layoffs could begin Monday (April 17, 2023) and end as late as June 2, 2023.
Pork producers are facing pressures from lower pork prices at the same time as feed and energy costs have increased.
On March 1, the nation had 72.9 million head of hogs — slightly up from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly report. Nearly a decade ago, the nation had 10 million fewer hogs.
Minnesota is second only to Iowa in pork production in the U.S.
“Those pigs in those barns? (Farmers are) going to have to find out where they’re going to take them,” said Ted Winter, a Nobles County farmer and executive committee member with Minnesota Farmers Union.
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