ICE Operations Disrupt Cattle Supply Chain Across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas

Cattle industry groups representing Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are warning that ongoing federal immigration enforcement activity is disrupting the agricultural workforce and beginning to affect the beef supply chain.

The Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Kansas Livestock Association and Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association issued a joint statement Thursday saying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the three states has disrupted the workforce at feedyards, dairies, meat processors, feed and grain companies, transportation hubs and other rural businesses.

The organizations said thousands of fed cattle scheduled to be shipped to processors have been delayed in recent days, resulting in what they described as millions of dollars in lost revenue and additional costs.

The groups also emphasized that the impact is not limited to workers who may be subject to immigration enforcement. They said the increased ICE activity is having a significant chilling effect on legal and documented workers who are afraid to report to work. 

That concern has already surfaced in southwest Kansas, one of the country's most concentrated cattle-feeding and beef-processing regions.

ICE operations have been reported around Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal, Kansas, where meatpacking and agriculture employ thousands of workers. Local officials said they were not given advance notice of the enforcement operation, and residents told the Kansas News Service and Midwest Newsroom that workers were staying home because of fear surrounding the increased ICE presence. 

The effect is beginning to show up in processing numbers.

Western Livestock Journal reported that cattle slaughter Tuesday fell to about 100,000 head, below expected levels, and dropped to approximately 94,000 head Wednesday as absenteeism affected processing capacity.

The disruptions are particularly significant for the High Plains, where cattle feeding, beef processing, dairies, grain production and transportation are closely connected across state lines.

Unlike many industries, livestock operations cannot simply stop production when workers fail to report.

Cattle must continue to be fed and cared for. Dairies operate every day. Finished cattle must move from feedyards to packing plants on schedule, and processing facilities depend on large workforces to keep production lines operating.

A delay at one point in that system can quickly move backward through the supply chain.

The three cattle organizations said they recognize the federal government's responsibility to enforce immigration law, but called for enforcement to be conducted in an orderly and transparent manner that respects due process and provides clear communication to employers and communities.

The organizations also warned that prolonged disruptions could eventually contribute to higher beef prices for consumers.

The situation adds another layer of uncertainty for cattle producers already operating within a tight national cattle supply and a highly interconnected production system.

For rural communities across the Southern Plains, the developing issue is increasingly becoming more than an immigration story.

It is also a labor, livestock, food-supply and rural economic story — and one that agriculture groups say could continue affecting producers even after individual enforcement operations end.