HOLCOMB, Kan. (AP) – Cattle producers are concerned a fire at a Tyson meat processing plant in Holcomb could disrupt already strained processing operations.

The plant is closed indefinitely after Friday’s fire. Tyson has said it will reopen the plant but the timeline will depend on the extent of the damage.

Fire crews say the cause is still unknown.

Tyson and fire officials commend plant management and successful evacuation procedures. There were no injuries reported out of nearly 1,200 employees present.

In the statement, Tyson Fresh Meats group president Steve Stouffer said the company will give weekly pay to “full-time, active team members” until production resumes.

“This is a difficult time for our team members and their families, and we want to ensure they’re taken care of,” Stouffer said.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports industry experts say the Holcomb plant processes about 6,000 cattle a day – about 6% of all the cattle processed in the U.S.

Finney County commissioner Larry Jones, a partner at J&O Cattle Co., said meat packing plants are already running at capacity because a record number of cattle are going to market.

In the first day of trading since the fire, cattle futures on Monday dropped $3 per hundred pounds, the maximum fluctuation allowed for a single day.

SOURCE: www.ksn.com