The company plans to close its fresh turkey processing plant in May.
Foster Farms plans to permanently close a fresh turkey processing plant in Central California and fire more than 500 employees, according to a notification processed by the state on Feb. 28.
The company says its factory in Turlock, California has been closed due to changes in market demand.
The closure will result in 478 workers finishing their jobs at a location on F Street in the Central California Agricultural Community in Stanislaus County, about 100 miles east of San Francisco.
The company will also close two other locations in Turlock. This is a Live Turkey truck yard on C Street and a feed factory on West Main Street.
According to the Worker Coordination and Retraining Notice (Warn) Act, a total of 519 manufacturing workers will lose their foster care jobs in Turlock forever, according to a legal notice filed in California.
The company’s announcement cited by the Turlock Journal on January 28 said the company is not planning to suspend its operations in California.
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“The foster farm will continue to have a major presence in Central Valley and remain a major employer in the Turlock community, where fully cooked poultry facilities continue to operate,” the press release said. “Other Foster Farm facilities will not be affected.”
Turlock City Councilman Rebecka Monez told the local newspaper that most of the laid-off workers were in her highly Hispanic neighborhood, and that the company assured her that they would be transferred elsewhere.
The family-owned company headquartered in Livingston, California was acquired in July 2022 by private equity firm Atlas Holdings.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. After Atlas Holdings acquired the company, longtime poultry industry leader Donnie Smith has been appointed CEO of Foster Farms and chairman of the board of directors. Smith was taken over by former pilgrim Pride Executive Jason Penn last March.
Foster Farms was founded in 1939 on a small farm in Modesto, California. The company specializes in fresh, natural chicken and turkey products that are free of preservatives or additives, according to its website.
The company is based in California’s Central Valley with a ranch in the Pacific Northwest. It employs more than 12,000 workers nationwide, according to the company’s website. Its major processing facilities are located in California, Washington, Louisiana, Oregon and Alabama.
The closure is due to the continued decline in customer demand for turkey products nationwide. According to the USDA, the average price of turkeys continued to slide in 2024, reaching $0.94 per pound, and in 2022 the price per pound jumped to $1.55.
It is the viral avian flu that exacerbates the situation on foster farms, which costs the US poultry industry in billions of dollars.
Foster Farms is scheduled to close California’s only turkey processing facility in May 2025. zikg/shutterstock
Foster Farms produces pre-managed, ready-to-cook, fully cooked products at its Turlock facilities for consumers, retailers, warehouse clubs and foodservice customers.
The Turlock plant was one of three foster farm plants that were shut down by the USDA in 2013 after 300 people became ill with Heidelberg’s bacterial strain, according to a federal agency.
The USDA issued a public health warning in October 2013 as concerns about salmonella strains began to investigate raw chicken products at three California facilities, including the Turlock factory.
Foster Farms’ turkey production was also a target for animal rights groups in 2015. The group animal outlook said it recorded inhumane conditions at its Turkish processing facility.
The closure of the Turlock factory is the second major turkey processing facility to announce its closure this year in the US. Cargill Inc. announced plans to close its turkey plant in Springdale, Arkansas by August 1, affecting around 1,100 employees, according to Reuters.
Cargill production will be moved to processing facilities in Missouri and Virginia, according to the company.
“It’s a proper move towards the future of the turkey business. Turkey remains an important part of Cargill’s protein portfolio,” the company said in an email to Reuters.
