A major cornerstone of the beef and agriculture economy of Lubbock and the South Plains is closing. And the closing could have a big impact on other businesses here.

Lubbock Feeds Closing After 70 Years

Over the weekend we learned that Lubbock Feeders, a 50,000-head cattle feedlot located in Lubbock, will be closing once its current inventories are fed and finished. The feedlot, according to KAMC, had over five million head of cattle during its 70 years of operation.

So why close? According to reports, the decision to close was both economic challenges and regulatory.

For many years, Mexican feeder cattle comprised around 60-70% of Lubbock Feeder’s inventory. But in 2024 the USDA closed the U.S./Mexico border to live animal imports. The last feeder cattle crossed in May of 2025. The border was closed to animal imports due to the New World Screwworm that Texas has been preparing for.

READ MORE: Texas Braces for the Screwworm Invasion

According to Beef.com, the border closing along with U.S cattle inventories being so low was a bad combination.

The border closure hit the feeding industry at a time when U.S. cattle inventories were already sinking to historic low levels. And with no hope of the border reopening soon, exacerbated by fewer available native cattle, feedyards across the Southwest and southern Plains have been scrambling to make ends meet.

Others Impacted by the Feedyard Closure

Some are happy about the feedyard closing. Some claimed that the air was bad for neighbors who chose to live near by. Opponents of the feedyard pointed to the smell and how it was used against Lubbock as a joke.

Others claimed the smell was that of money.

There will be others who feel the impact of this closure. As KAMC reports, local farmers who depend on the feedyard to sell corn and other feed crops will have to look elsewhere. The same goes for truckers, equipment suppliers, veterinarians, and any of those who did business with Lubbock Feeders.

These Are the 12 Different Regions of TexasThanks to the Texas Comptroller’s Office, we can see how Texas is split among 12 different regions. Check out how large each one is and how many counties are found within each slice of Texas!

Gallery Credit: Nick

23 Things That We Need in Lubbock, TXWe asked our Facebook audience what Lubbock is missing, and their responses left nothing to the imagination.

Gallery Credit: Nick