# Pete's Comments: Fire and ice | Western Livestock Journal

> A fire at Tyson's Holcomb, Kansas beef plant, which handled about 6,000 head a day, knocked out a significant share of fed cattle packing capacity. Futures traders sold off sharply, with cattle contracts locked limit-down for two sessions. Tyson said it would keep paying its roughly 3,000 employees while the plant is rebuilt.

- Date: 2019-08-16 · published 2019-08-16T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude high
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/10652-pete-s-comments-fire-and-ice-western-livestock-journal
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

Losing roughly 6% of packing capacity during seasonally heavy supplies forces cattle to move to other plants, pressuring cash and futures prices for fed cattle and feeders.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: bearish ▼
- LCATTLE: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2019-08-15 | 5 | -4.4% | -3.7 | Cattle contracts locked limit-down for two sessions after the fire cut packing capacity, but the commentary was published after the window. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2019-08-30 | [Markets slow to recover from post-fire crash \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10035-markets-slow-to-recover-from-post-fire-crash-western-livestock-journal.md) | -4.4% | -3.7% |
| LCATTLE | 2019-08-16 | [Kansas Tyson plant in flames \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10654-kansas-tyson-plant-in-flames-western-livestock-journal.md) | -0.3% | -5.6% |
| LCATTLE | 2026-05-22 | [Cattle futures fall amid placement, processing concerns \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5387-cattle-futures-fall-amid-placement-processing-concerns-western-livestock-journal.md) | -0.3% | -0.2% |
| LCATTLE | 2019-08-20 | [Disruption in fed beef slaughter – Ohio Ag Net \| Ohio's Country Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10658-disruption-in-fed-beef-slaughter-ohio-ag-net-ohio-s-country-journal.md) | +2.8% | -4.2% |
| LCATTLE | 2019-08-14 | [Tyson plant fire affects workers and production \| 2019-08-12 \| Agri-Pulse \| Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7611-tyson-plant-fire-affects-workers-and-production-2019-08-12-agri-pulse-agri.md) | -2.0% | -7.0% |
| FCATTLE | 2019-08-30 | [Markets slow to recover from post-fire crash \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10035-markets-slow-to-recover-from-post-fire-crash-western-livestock-journal.md) | -3.9% | +4.0% |
| FCATTLE | 2019-08-16 | [Kansas Tyson plant in flames \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10654-kansas-tyson-plant-in-flames-western-livestock-journal.md) | +1.9% | +0.5% |
| FCATTLE | 2026-05-22 | [Cattle futures fall amid placement, processing concerns \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5387-cattle-futures-fall-amid-placement-processing-concerns-western-livestock-journal.md) | -5.6% | +0.4% |

## Sources

- wlj.net: https://www.wlj.net/petes-comments-fire-and-ice/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.