Last Friday, the City of Lexington received the devastating news that Tyson Foods, the largest employer in the area, will close its plant on January 20, 2026. When a town of just over 10,000 loses over 3,200 jobs, it is a big deal.

This, of course, is not the first time Lexington has experienced an impact like this. When the New Holland combine plant decided to close its doors at the same location, it took a lot of hard work, but the local leaders – with the help of state incentives – successfully recruited IBP to buy and convert the plant to a beef packing plant. Along with the new plant came odor problems and the need to hire workers who were willing to work hard in difficult conditions. This was a difficult challenge for a community the size of Lexington (at the time) to deal with. Not only was housing a challenge, but the school system was ill-equipped to deal with language and cultural barriers presented by new families moving to the community. Many long-time residents moved out of town, and there was resistance from some to the new employer.

Lexington showed a lot of resilience after the New Holland closure. I have always been impressed by the commitment of local leaders to face the new challenge head-on and convert problems into opportunities. Today, the Lexington Public School system is one of the best in the state. The growth of the town has been phenomenal. Lexington was firing on all cylinders until the Tyson announcement.

As hard as it is to absorb the news, I am confident that Lexington will find a way to rebound. Once again, local leaders will need to repeat the prior success of finding a replacement employer (or employers). Unfortunately, they will face the additional hurdle presented by the state of the Tyson plant. The New Holland plant was a clear-span building with many possibilities. Today, the plan is much larger and does not lend itself as easily to a cost-effective conversion. It does, however, have refrigeration capacity that could aid an employer needing this type of space. One challenge will be finding someone who does not directly compete with Tyson. They may prefer to idle the plan, as opposed to helping a competitor. However, paying for taxes, insurance, and security on an idle plant can be very expensive. I hope they will do right by the community.

The closure of this plant will be felt throughout Nebraska’s agricultural community, particularly for cattle producers who will now need to find a new processor. The cost of additional trucking and the associated shrink from longer travel times will have a negative financial impact. Although cattle prices are good right now, our producers need more capital to help increase the domestic cattle supply in future years.

Meanwhile, you cannot help but have sympathy for the families that will be affected by the plant closure, particularly in the midst of the holiday season. They have made Lexington their home. There are also many businesses that have opened their doors to support the plant and its workers. Although Sustainable Beef is still hiring in North Platte, there are fewer openings than potential employees, and the possibility of uprooting your family is never an easy situation to face.

Sidney, NE dealt with similar news when Cabela’s closed its corporate offices. These were high-paying jobs, with many employees who had built or were building expensive homes. The challenge for every town that loses a large employer is to find one or more replacement businesses that can absorb the space and employees at comparable salary ranges.

Julie and I will be keeping the City of Lexington and the Tyson plant employees in our prayers.

It is a privilege to represent you in the Nebraska Legislature, and I look forward to continuing to hear about issues that are important to you. I can be reached at 402-471-2729 or by emailing me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov.