National market shrugs, but Friday’s news lands with a Monday thud on local cattle auctions as USDA reports ‘absence of major buyer’

SOUDERTON, Pa. — JBS USA announced on June 12 that it will permanently close its Souderton, Pennsylvania beef processing plant on Aug. 14, ending more than a century of business at the former Moyer Packing Company (MOPAC), one of the largest beef-processing facilities east of the Mississippi River.

JBS USA is part of Brazil-based JBS, the world’s largest meat processor. JBS-Souderton represents 8% of its total beef-processing capacity in the U.S. With a one-shift daily capacity of 2000-head, according to multiple sources, some have estimated recent processing closer to 1200 head per day as cattle supplies have tightened to 75-year lows nationwide.

Friday’s announcement landed with a thud during Monday’s cattle auction at New Holland Sales Stables. According to USDA’s June 15 market report, slaughter cattle sold sharply lower amid heavy offerings in what the reporter described as “the absence of a major buyer that is typically active in the market.” By June 17, Farmshine had confirmed through sources that JBS was off the market without a bid in the East, though may be moving direct loads.

Not only did fed steers bring $10 to $13 per hundredweight less than the prior sale on June 11, the Choice and Prime lots averaged $10 below the national Choice steer index. Cull cows were as much as $7 lower. Dairy and beef x dairy calves were down $40 to $80 per head.

DV Auction market analyst Corbitt Wall of Amarillo, Texas worked for USDA Market News in New Holland, Pennsylvania during the early 1990s. He observed in his June 16 Feeder Flash that the national market took the news in stride, but was quick to add: “I used to live in Pennsylvania, and it’s a big deal to them out there. That MOPAC plant has been a mainstay there for a long, long time.”

He also noted the numbers problem: “Packers play hardball. We’re short of cattle. The industry is running the lowest and slowest chain speeds that we have had in any June in history. It’s just unbelievable how light the slaughter is. I guess, if they don’t need all those plants, they can move the cattle to other places and save money that way.”

JBS said the affected production will be absorbed elsewhere across its network to “ensure continuity of supply for customers,” but gave no details on what that looks like for the affected producers. A source familiar with cattle buying operations said the company will still buy cattle here for processing at JBS’s Plainwell, Michigan plant, which reportedly has one-shift daily capacity of 1800 to 2200 head.

The required 60-day notice with the Pa. Department of Labor and Industry stated job losses at two affected locations — 249 Allentown Road (beef) and 741 Souder Road (rendering)  — will impact a total of 1485 employees.

These workers were among 26,000 across 14 JBS sites covered by a union contract ratified last year that improved wages, benefits, and added pension coverage. The agreement expires in August, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The plant sits 40 miles north of Philadelphia in rapidly developing Montgomery County. JBS has not publicly discussed whether the age, condition, or location of the facility built in 1974 and expanded in 1993 factored into its decision, nor has the company disclosed its plans for the real estate, which includes the major rendering operation along with cold storage and distribution.

The Souderton closure was announced alongside plans to shutter a JBS value-added processing facility in Memphis, Tennessee. The company said it recently combined its beef and case-ready businesses into a more integrated operating platform and made significant investments and expansions in Texas, Georgia and Iowa.

According to the JBS news release, the closures are part of “network changes to strengthen operations,” stating the company “remains committed to… working closely with producers and grower-partners across the country.”

“We must ensure our operations are efficient, modern, and positioned to compete,” said JBS USA CEO Wesley Batista Filho. “By investing where we are growing and making difficult adjustments where needed, we are building a stronger and more resilient company.”

The timing comes one month after the USDA and DOJ announced an investigation into concentration in the beef packing industry, noting that JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef control more than 85% of U.S. beef processing capacity.

An isolated region

Oklahoma State University livestock economist Derrell Peel doesn’t expect the Souderton closure to make a big impact nationally, but he said: “The Northeast is a unique, somewhat isolated regional market” and could feel direct effects.

Pennsylvania remains home to a number of farmer-feeders who purchase feeder cattle from Virginia and West Virginia for finishing. Those ranks have thinned over the years, even as some former dairy farms have transitioned into beef cow-calf, cattle-feeding, and calf-growing enterprises.

Dairy farms depend on beef markets for cull cows, Holstein bull calves and increasing numbers of beef x dairy cross calves marketed through auctions, buying stations, dealers and order buyers. For years, calf-fed Holstein steer contracts represented a significant source of cattle for both the JBS Souderton and especially Plainwell plants.

Today, many straight dairy and beef x dairy calves sold by dairy farms in Pennsylvania, New York and elsewhere in the region are purchased as newborns for calf-fed starter and grower programs, some of which are local, but many are in Ohio or further west, with JBS a significant participant.

End of an era

Moyer Packing was founded in 1877 by Abraham F. Moyer. The current MOPAC facility was built in 1974 and expanded in 1993. It, along with the former Taylor Packing in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania have long served as major anchors of the market for fed beef and dairy cull cows here. In 2001, MOPAC was sold to Smithfield Foods, which was then acquired by JBS in 2008. Taylor Packing became part of Cargill’s beef operations in 2001 and continues processing mostly cows and some fed beef.

Numbers reality

In addition to the JBS-Souderton closure, other plant closures and adjustments were announced in the west by Tyson as packers adjust to the smallest U.S. cattle herd since 1951, which has reduced efficiency, shrunk margins, and shifted market leverage. JBS USA reported a $279 million loss in first quarter 2026.

Federally inspected cattle slaughter January through April was down 8% vs. year ago, on top of three years of prior declines. Beef cow slaughter fell 17% year-on-year (YoY), while dairy cow slaughter was up 5.4%, according to USDA. One positive note for packer margins, however, is average carcass weights increased 2%, yielding more beef per head.

At the same time, U.S. beef imports for January through April were up 14% YoY following three years of growth. This includes a 27% increase in beef imports from Mexico, where feedlot and processing capacity are expanding after the 1.5 million Mexican feeder cattle that normally cross the border into Texas feedlots annually were prevented from doing so in an effort to contain New World Screwworm (but the screw fly made it here anyway).

Pennsylvania looks ahead

According to Penn State Extension’s 2025 Survey of Pennsylvania Beef Producers, published in April 2026, nearly 45% of respondents said they plan to increase cattle numbers during the next five years. Only 8% anticipate reducing herd size, while fewer than 3% expect to leave the business. The survey also documented growing interest in direct marketing, retained ownership, value-added programs and expansion opportunities.

Whether JBS procurement patterns and market relationships built around Souderton simply shift west to Plainwell or begin changing in more significant ways remains to be seen, along with questions around who bears the transportation costs and shrink, concerns about whether JBS will continue bidding at auctions, and thoughts about how to bring a mid-sized regional processing hub to the region to support local producers serving consumers interested in buying local beef.

These are some of the questions on the minds of farmers as JBS processes its last loads of cattle at the former MOPAC over the next eight weeks.