Smithfield Foods will close its Altoona, Iowa, ham boning facility and consolidate production volume at other locations to improve the efficiency of its manufacturing platform.

Smithfield will provide transition assistance to 314 employees at the facility who will be affected by the closure. The company will meet with employees individually to provide additional details about the transition plan, including severance, financial incentives to assure business continuity and potential employment opportunities with Smithfield.

“We appreciate the good work our Altoona employees have done over the years and are committed to supporting every employee through this transition,” said Doug Sutton, chief manufacturing officer for Smithfield Foods. “We have been successful in retaining many of our people in positions with Smithfield during previous consolidations and will provide information about opportunities at other Smithfield locations.”

Production from Smithfield’s Altoona facility will be consolidated into existing company facilities in Monmouth, Illinois; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Crete, Nebraska.

Smithfield employs nearly 4,000 people in Iowa at its farms and its food-processing facilities in Carroll, Denison, Des Moines, Mason City, Orange City, Sioux Center and Sioux City.