Market News & Headlines >> Cargill Plant Resumes Taking Cattle

Cargill resumed receiving cattle for slaughter at its Dodge City, Kansas, beef plant on Monday after an explosion there last week, a company spokesman said. 

The explosion, which occurred Oct. 17 in a stand-alone building outside the main facility and injured two workers, prompted the company to suspend some shifts last week and stop receiving livestock. However, the plant continued to package beef from carcasses it had on hand at the time of the blast. 

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell on Friday in part due to fears the interruption at the plant, which can process up to 6,000 head per day, would cause cattle supplies to back up at feedlots.

 U.S. cattle processing capacity was already reduced by the Aug. 9 fire at the Tyson Foods Inc. beef processing plant in Holcomb, Kansas, which had a similar daily slaughter capacity. Tyson is still rebuilding that plant, which is expected to reopen sometime in early 2020.