Missouri AG asks Tyson Foods to sell Dexter plant

Attorney General Andrew Bailey, in a two-page letter dated Tuesday, Oct. 3, asked Tyson Foods to sell two Missouri poultry production plants the company plans to close in Dexter and Noel, Missouri.

Dexter's shutdown is imminent as Tyson announced Aug. 7 it would close the Stoddard County facility, home to 683 jobs, Friday, Oct. 13, citing "several quarters of a struggling industry".

The Show Me State closings are part of four planned U.S. Tyson plant terminations; the others are in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and Corydon, Indiana.

Bailey, who noted the Dexter plant has been operating since Swift Poultry opened the facility in the 1930s, bemoaned the impact Tyson abandoning the facility will have on the community.

"Closure will have ripple effects that will harm more than just the individuals who would lose their factory jobs. What will chicken farmers and grain growers do if the plants they long relied on close?"

Calling it "the right thing to do", Bailey said he was joining U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley in urging Tyson Foods to sell the Dexter and Noel plants, even to a competitor.

"It is vital to the people of Missouri whose livelihoods depend on these factories that Tyson works to ensure these plants remain open," Bailey concluded.

Tyson Foods self-describes itself as "the largest American-owned producer and marketer of protein-centric brands", according to its Facebook page.