Ag Giant Cargill Lays off Thousand of Workers

Cargill said it is laying off 5% of its global workforce, roughly 8,000 workers, as the agricultural giant deals with tepid crop prices and pressure on the beef industry.

In a statement, Cargill said the move was part of its efforts to align talent and resources with a long-term strategy set earlier this year. The Minneapolis-based company has over 160,000 employees operating in 70 countries, according to its website.  

Cargill, one of the world’s biggest food suppliers, buys crops from farmers, trades commodities and processes meat. The nearly 160-year-old company makes products ranging from animal feed to chocolate. 

For its most recent fiscal year, Cargill reported $160 billion in revenue, down from $177 billion for the prior year. “The marketplace our people navigated this year was extremely challenging,” Chief Executive Brian Sikes wrote in the company’s most recent annual report. 

Grain prices, which soared during the Covid pandemic in 2021 and 2022, have been under pressure after farmers in the U.S. and elsewhere reared big crops, swelling supplies. 

More is less: large crop supplies push prices, and profits, down for farmers.

Source: WSJ