Cargill is reducing its workforce by about 5% globally, saying the layoffs are a response to a decrease in crop prices that have reduced revenue for the agricultural giant.
An annual report from the Minnesota-based company said it employed about 160,000 people worldwide in 2024, making it the United States’ largest private company. The 5% cut could impact 8,000 workers.
“Earlier this year, we set a long-term strategy that continues that legacy, while carrying forward the values and core strengths that have defined our success from the beginning. As we look to the future, we have laid out a clear plan to evolve and strengthen our portfolio to take advantage of compelling trends in front of us, maximize our competitiveness, and, above all, continue to deliver for our customers,” a Cargill representative told The Capital-Journal.
“To strengthen Cargill’s impact, we must realign our talent and resources to align with our strategy. Unfortunately, that means reducing our global workforce by approximately 5 percent. This difficult decision was not made lightly.”
The company is declining to share the office locations where it will cut staff, but there are several Cargill locations in Kansas that could see some staff reductions.
The company operates grain elevators in Topeka, Wichita, Hutchinson, Salina, Ogallah and Wakeeney. It has a meat processing facility in Dodge City, a warehouse and pet food manufacturing facility in Kansas City and a feed and nutrition plant in Emporia.
Its protein division’s headquarters in Wichita opened in 2018 and was meant to connect Cargill’s 800 Wichita-based employees with its 28,000 workers across North America.
Cargill’s major businesses are trading and distributing grain, livestock and food ingredients. It reported record-high revenues during the pandemic but declined to its lowest level of profit since 2016 this year.
The layoffs at Cargill come as Kansas saw another large agricultural employer cut back in Kansas. Tyson Foods announced Dec. 2 that its plant in Emporia will close in February and lay off the 809 employees that work there.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm income forecast from September projected a bad year for American farmers, with net farm income down 23% since 2022, following a nearly 20% decline in income in in 2023 and another 4% this year.
American Farm Bureau Federation economist Daniel Much said broad economic pressures, including increased cost of labor, higher interest rates, taxes and reduced government support are challenging farmers.
“USDA’s 2024 farm income forecast paints a grim picture for American agriculture,” Much wrote on the Farm Bureau’s market intel page. “While livestock producers may see modest gains, the outlook for many crop farmers is increasingly uncertain, with global supply and demand imbalances weighing heavily on prices.”
The September report showed declines in crop receipts for corn, soybeans, fruits and nuts, wheat, hay and cotton, while race and vegetables are expected to generate more farm income. Livestock is trending more positively, with cattle, poultry, dairy, broilers and hogs forecasting greater net incomes, with turkeys being the only livestock expected to decline in total receipts.
As reported in the Topeka Capital Journal
