Cargill sells cattle feed yards in Kansas and Colorado

Cargill is selling its cattle feed yards at Leoti and Yuma, Colo., to Omaha-based Green Plains, an ethanol producer with existing feed yards at Kismet and Hereford, Texas.

The transaction will be final once a definitive agreement and regulatory review are complete, Cargill said in a news release Wednesday.

Green Plains will supply cattle to Cargill through a new multiyear agreement. The approximately 90 people at the two feed yards will be offered positions with Green Plains, the release said. The two feed yards have a capacity of about 155,000 cattle at any one time.

Wichita-based Cargill Beef North America owns several beef slaughter plants, including one in Dodge City. But the company has suffered over the last few years because the beef industry has been whipsawed, first by declining herds and later, as ranchers rebuilt their herds, falling prices. Feedlots have seen some losses, and some have closed.

Cargill has announced approximately $560 million in acquisitions and capital investments to grow its North American protein business in the last two years.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Cargill sells cattle feed yards in Kansas and Colorado."