Silver Fern Farms is proposing to close its Fairton sheepmeat plant, just north of Ashburton, with the loss of 370 jobs.
The Fairton plant once processed more than 1 million lambs each season but the number has declined to less than half a million.
The closure was announced on Wednesday and was described by the New Zealand Meat Workers' Union as a tragedy for staff and for the Ashburton community
In the future the company will process lambs from the Ashburton region at its Paeroa plant south of Timaru.
Video made by the Otago Daily Times with support from New Zealand On Air.
