Steam rises from chimneys during the night shift at the Tyson Foods' beef plant in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)2025-12-22T15:45:04Z LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) On a frigid day after Mass at St. Anns Catholic Church in rural Nebraska, worshippers shuffled into the basement and sat on folding chairs, their faces barely masking the fear gripping their town.A pall hung over the room just as it hung over the holiday season in Lexington, Nebraska.Suddenly they tell us that theres no more work. Your world closes in on you, said Alejandra Gutierrez.She and the others work at Tyson Foods beef plant and are among the 3,200 people who will lose their jobs when Lexingtons biggest employer closes the plant next month after more than two decades of operation.Hundreds of families may be forced to pack up and leave the town of 11,000, heading east to Omaha or Iowa, or south to the meatpacking towns of Kansas or beyond, causing spinoff layoffs in Lexingtons restaurants, barbershops, grocers, convenience stores and taco trucks. A pall is hanging over the holiday season in Lexington, Nebraska, where the Tyson beef plant, by far the largest employer in small town, is set to lay off 3,200 people when the company closes the facility on Jan. 20, after three decades of operation. (AP Video: Thomas Peipert) Losing 3,000 jobs in a city of 10,000 to 12,000 people is as big a closing event as weve seen virtually for decades, said Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Indianas Ball State University. It will be close to the poster child for hard times. All told, the job losses are expected to reach 7,000, largely in Lexington and the surrounding counties, according to estimates from University of Nebraska, Lincoln, shared with The Associated Press. Tyson employees alone will lose an estimated $241 million in pay and benefits annually. Tyson says its closing the plant to right-size its beef business after a historically low cattle herd in the U.S. and the companys expected loss of $600 million on beef production next fiscal year. Amela Lipnicevic with the Nebraska Department of Labor, right, helps Tyson Foods employee Guillermo Vargas during an informational meeting in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Amela Lipnicevic with the Nebraska Department of Labor, right, helps Tyson Foods employee Guillermo Vargas during an informational meeting in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The plants closure threatens to unravel a Great Plains town where the American Dream was still attainable, where immigrants who didnt speak English and never graduated high school bought homes, raised children in a safe community and sent them to college. Now, those symbols of economic progress mortgages and car payments, property taxes and tuition costs are bills that thousands of Tyson workers wont have an income to pay. At St. Anns church, Gutierrez sat between her daughters and recalled being told of the plant closure just before Thanksgiving while she visited a college campus with her high school senior, Kimberly.At that moment, my daughter said she no longer wanted to study, Gutierrez said. Because where would we get the money to pay for college? A tear slipped down Kimberlys cheek as she looked at her mother and then down at her hands. Two men walk past a business in downtown Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Two men walk past a business in downtown Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Tyson was our motherlandIf you threw a dart at a map of the United States, Lexington called Lex by locals would be just about bullseye.Its easy to miss driving down Interstate 80, half hidden by barren hackberry trees, corn fields and pastures of Black Angus cattle, but a driver can spy the plants hulking industrial buildings pumping steam.The plant opened in 1990 and was bought by Tyson 11 years later, attracting thousands of workers and nearly doubling the towns population within a decade. Many came from Los Angeles, then stricken by recession, including Lizeth Yanes, who initially hated what she called a little ghost town. But soon Lexington flourished, with suburbs sprouting among bur oak and American elm trees. The downtown, a strip of cobblestone streets and brick buildings, has a Somali grocer that abuts a Hispanic bakery; locals attend over a dozen churches and several city recreation centers. Tyson Foods employee Lizeth Yanes cries during an interview in Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Tyson Foods employee Lizeth Yanes cries during an interview in Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More To this day, the plant creates the towns rhythm as workers roll on and off the daily A, B and C shifts and fill restaurants, school pickup lines and the one-screen movie theater showing Polar Express.It took a long time for me to actually enjoy this little place, said Yanes. Now that I enjoy it, now I have to leave.The atmosphere inside the Tyson plant, where workers process as many as 5,000 head of cattle a day, laboring on slaughter floors, cleaning crews or trimming cuts of meat, feels like a funeral, she said.Tyson was our motherland, said plant worker Arab Adan. The Kenyan immigrant sat in his car with his two energetic sons, who asked him a question he has no answer to: Which state are we gonna go, daddy?The only thing Adan is set on is that his kids finish the school year in Lexington, where school officials say nearly half of students have a parent working for Tyson.The school district, where at least 20 languages and dialects are spoken, has higher high school graduation and college attendance rates than the state and national average, and one of Nebraskas biggest marching bands. Residents are proud of the diversity and the tightknit community, where young people return to raise families.During Mass at St. Anns, parishioners gave the cash in their pockets to a fund for families in financial need, despite knowing theyll be out of work next month. Afterward, Francisco Antonio ran through his future employment options with a sad smile. After the plant closes on Jan. 20, the 52-year-old father of four said hell stay a few months in Lexington and look for work, though now theres no future. He took off his glasses, paused, apologized and tried to explain his emotions.Its home mostly, not the job, he said, replacing his glasses with an embarrassed smile.We need another opportunity, job, here in Lex, he said. Otherwise Lex is gonna disappear. Tyson Foods employees wait for help at an informational meeting held by the Nebraska Department of Labor in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Tyson Foods employees wait for help at an informational meeting held by the Nebraska Department of Labor in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Tyson owes this communityThe domino effect could go something like this: If 1,000 families skip town, said economist Hicks who wouldnt be surprised if it were double that seats would be left empty in schools, leading to teacher layoffs; there would be far fewer customers in restaurants, shops and other businesses.Most of the customers at Los Jalapenos, a Mexican restaurant down the street from the plant, are Tyson workers. They fill booths after work and are greeted by owner Armando Martinezs mustachioed grin and bellow of Hola, amigo!Martinezs grandson once told his grandfather that when he grows up he wants to work at Tyson. The childs fifth-grade sister recently gathered with classmates to talk about the changes happening with their parents. Some were headed to California, others to Kansas. All were in tears. Armando Martinez, left, and his wife, Maria Dolores Perez, right, work in their restaurant, Los Jalapenos, near the Tyson Foods beef plant in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Armando Martinez, left, and his wife, Maria Dolores Perez, right, work in their restaurant, Los Jalapenos, near the Tyson Foods beef plant in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More If he cant keep up with bills, the restaurant will close, but theres just nowhere we can go, said Martinez, who undergoes dialysis for diabetes, has an amputated foot and prays for a miracle: that Tyson will change its mind. He knows its unlikely. Asked by The Associated Press for comment about plans for the site, Tyson said in a statement that it is currently assessing how we can repurpose the facility within our own production network. It did not provide details, or say whether it plans to offer support to the community through the plant closure.Many, including City Manager Joe Pepplitsch, are hoping Tyson puts the plant up for sale and a new company comes in bringing jobs. That isnt a quick fix, requiring time, negotiations, renovations and no guarantee of comparable jobs.Tyson owes this community a debt. I think they have a responsibility here to help ease some of the impact, he said, noting Tyson doesnt pay city taxes due to a deal negotiated decades ago. Trucks carrying grain drive past cattle in pens at the Darr Feedlot in Cozad, Neb., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Trucks carrying grain drive past cattle in pens at the Darr Feedlot in Cozad, Neb., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Its not easy, at our age, to go back and start overNear the plant, at the Dawson County Fairgrounds, Tyson workers recently filled a long hall as state agencies responding with the urgency of a natural disaster offered information on retraining, writing a resume, filing for unemployment and avoiding scammers when selling homes.Attendees faces were subdued, like listening to a doctors prognosis. Your financial health is going to change, they were told. Dont ignore the bank, they will not go away. Many of the older workers dont speak English, havent graduated high school and arent computer savvy. The last application some filled out was decades ago. We know only working in meat for Tyson, we dont have any other experience, said Adan, the Kenyan immigrant.Back at St. Anns, workers echoed that concern. They only want young people now, said Juventino Castro, whos worked at Tyson for a quarter-century. I dont know whats going to happen in the time I have left.Lupe Ceja said shes saved a little money, but it wont last long. Luz Alvidrez has a cleaning gig that will sustain her for awhile. Others might return to Mexico for a time. Nobody has a clear plan.It wont be easy, said Fernando Sanchez, a Tyson worker for 35 years who sat with his wife. We started here from scratch and its time to start from scratch again.Tears rolled down his wifes cheeks and he squeezed her hand. JESSE BEDAYN Bedayn covers major breaking news on the Rapid Response Team, as well as politics and housing. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site