Tyson Foods will close a major beef plant in Lexington, Nebraska, with about 3,200 employees in January after U.S. cattle supplies dropped to their lowest level in nearly 75 years, the meatpacker said on Friday.

The closure in the heart of cattle-feeding country signaled that supplies will remain tight, forcing meatpackers to pay steep prices for cattle to process into steaks and hamburgers.

Beef prices have set records due to low supplies and strong demand, raising costs for consumers. President Donald Trump said last month that he was working to bring down prices.

Tyson said it will also reduce operations at a beef plant in Amarillo, Texas, to a single, full-capacity shift, affecting about 1,700 workers.

“Tyson Foods recognizes the impact these decisions have on team members and the communities where we operate,” the company said in a statement.

Tyson said the changes were expected around January 20 and that it will increase production at other facilities to meet customer demand.

Beef prices soared this year as cattle supplies dwindled and meatpackers increasingly competed for limited supplies of livestock.

Ranchers slashed their herds after a years-long drought burned up pasture lands and hiked feeding costs. Some have slowly started to rebuild their herds, though it takes at least two years to raise full-grown cattle.

Tyson’s beef business suffered adjusted losses of $426 million in the 12 months ended on September 27 and $291 million over the previous year. The meatpacker projected the unit will lose $400 million to $600 million in the 2026 fiscal year.

“We all expected a plant to be closed at some point in 2026,” said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Allendale. “I’m a little surprised they’re doing it preemptively.”

Losses in Tyson’s beef business were a turnaround from the fat profits it and other processors reaped during the COVID-19 pandemic, when meat prices soared as infections among plant workers slowed output.

The Lexington plant can process roughly 5,000 cattle per day, or about 5% of total U.S. slaughtering, but it has already been operating below capacity, said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne in Nebraska. Its closure will shock the city of about 10,000 residents and hurt local feedyards that fatten cattle, he said.

“Tyson’s announcement will have a devastating impact,” said U.S. Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska. “It’s no secret that just a few years ago, packers like Tyson were making windfall profits while the rest of the industry was continuously in the red.”

In Amarillo, Tyson’s plant can slaughter roughly 6,000 cattle per day, according to industry estimates.

The White House had no immediate comment.

Trump has sought to boost beef imports from countries such as Argentina to ease prices for U.S. consumers, angering American ranchers. On Thursday, he removed 40% tariffs he had imposed this summer on Brazilian food products that slowed imports of beef used to make hamburger meat.

Trump has also accused meatpacking companies of driving up U.S. beef prices through manipulation and collusion, and ordered the Justice Department to investigate.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Nia Williams and Bill Berkrot)

President Donald Trump offered an optimistic view of the direction of New York City after meeting with Democratic socialist Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday.

During a press conference that followed, Trump said the two found common ground in their desires to reduce the cost of living, while also cracking down on crime. He also acknowledged that Mamdani has “views that are a little out there,” adding that he’s likely to change.

“I feel very confident that he could do a very good job. I think he is gonna surprise some conservative people, actually,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office.

Mamdani described the meeting as “productive,” saying the discussion was “focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City, and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers … who are struggling to afford life in the most expensive city in the United States of America.”

At one point during the press conference, Mamdani was asked if he would stand by his earlier labeling of Trump as a fascist.

Trump quickly jumped in as Mamdani danced around the question, joking that “you could just say yes.”

Mamdani said one in ten of his voters previously cast ballots for Trump, to which the president responded: “And I’m okay with that.”

On the campaign trail, Mamdani, a 34-year-old assemblyman from Queens, promised to institute rent control, increase taxes on the wealthy, and pull police funding for social services.

The far-left radical also pledged to allocate $100 million as legal support for illegal immigrants facing deportation and to uphold the city’s sanctuary status.

Despite Mamdani’s radical positions, Trump said he’s hopeful the two will “work … out” their differences when it comes to immigration raids and policing.

“If we have known murderers and known drug dealers and some very bad people, we want to get them out .. We discussed this at great length, actually, maybe more than anything else. He wants to have a safe New York, ultimately, a safe New York is gonna be a great New York.”

Additionally, he has vowed to open government-run grocery stores and free buses.

Mamdani has also faced backlash for criticizing Israel and repeatedly refusing to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada.”

Trump announced Thursday that Mamdani requested to meet.