MINNEAPOLIS — Jennie-O Turkey Store said Tuesday that it will temporarily lay off 233 workers at its Faribault processing plant because the bird flu has cut into its turkey supplies.
The company said in a press statement it will move to a single processing shift in Faribault for the "foreseeable future," effective May 26.
"This is a temporary layoff and our intent is to have everyone come back to work when bird numbers return to normal levels," Randy L. Vergin, the Faribault plant manager said in a press statement. "We do not have an anticipated return to work date at this time."
Jennie-O, a division of Austin-based Hormel Foods, is the nation’s second largest turkey processor. It relies on Minnesota and Wisconsin for its turkeys, and both states have been hit hard by the bird flu.
In Minnesota, the nation’s largest turkey producing state, the highly-pathogenic H5N2 flu has afflicted 80 farms, leading to the destruction of around 3.8 million turkeys and almost 1.6 million chickens.
