US agri-food giant Cargill was forced to close a domestic beef plant on Monday (1 July) after the roof collapsed following heavy rainfall.

The plant in Dodge City, Kansas, is in an area that received more than four inches of rain in a short period.

Cargill said no one was injured when the roof caved in but it was forced to close down the facility to deal with the mess.

It is working with structural engineers to stabilise the roof.

The company ceased production yesterday to deal with the mess but some operations have now resumed at the site. It said it is acting to minimise disruption in its supply chain.

In a short statement sent to Just Food, a Cargill spokesperson said: “Over the weekend, more than four inches of rain fell in a short period of time and caused a portion of the roof at our Dodge City beef plant to collapse. We are thankful that no one was injured.

“All of the processed beef in our coolers and distribution centre was unharmed and we are shipping it to customers this week. We safely resumed operations on our fabrication floor today and plan to do the same on our harvest floor on Friday.

“We are leveraging the broad footprint of our supply chain to minimise disruptions to customers and producers.”

The agri-food conglomerate, based in Minnesota, is said to be the largest privately-held company in the US in revenue terms.

Its gross revenue in 2023 was $177bn.