Emporia ? Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat company, announced Friday it would cease beef slaughter operations at its Emporia plant, cutting about 1,500 jobs, more than half its work force at that facility.

The cuts come in response to a difficult beef market and the location of the Emporia plant in eastern Kansas, which has been part of Tyson Foods since the company’s purchase of IBP Inc. in 2001, said Dick Bond, president and CEO of Tyson Foods.

Beef slaughter operations at the Emporia plant, which has about 2,400 employees, will end within the next few weeks, the Little Rock, Ark.-based company said in a news release. The company will continue to use the Emporia facility for cold storage and as a distribution warehouse, and for processing ground beef.

“There continues to be far more beef slaughter capacity than available cattle, and we believe this problem will continue to afflict the industry for the foreseeable future,” Bond said. “We estimate the current slaughter overcapacity in the industry to be between 10,000 and 14,000 head of cattle per day.”