Hudson egg supplier Sparboe Farm laying off 95

HUDSON — Sparboe Cos., the Minnesota owners of the Sparboe Farm chicken-egg operation in Hudson, is laying off 95 workers. 

The layoffs, which are expected to take place over the next month, are a result of a business “closure,” according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act documents filed this week with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

WARN Act provisions are triggered when a company with more than 100 employees lays off more than half their workforce at a single site. 

It’s unclear whether the entire Sparboe operation in Hudson is closing, as company representatives didn’t respond to requests for comment Tuesday. 

If the farm is closing, it’s also unclear when that would occur. The facility was open as of late Tuesday afternoon. 

Among the positions being eliminated are processing manager, production supervisor, packer, stacker, machine operator, manure technician, gate security and administrative assistant, the WARN filing said. 

None of the workers being laid off are represented by a labor union.

Sparboe was founded in 1954 in Minnesota and expanded into Colorado with the acquisition of the Hudson farm in 1999. The Colorado operation allowed the company to begin serving customers in the South, West and Southwest, according to the company’s website.

The company made headlines in 2011 when Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) stopped carrying Sparboe eggs after undercover videos at company farms, including the Hudson operation, were alleged to show unhealthy conditions and animal abuse. 

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