Roberts Livestock market development officer Warren Johnston said he was advised the company planned to ‘wind back’ staff from their smalls plant facility. 

It is believed the staff will be stood down for an initial period of four weeks, with a review of the decision to follow.

“There is a shortage of live stock and Tassie is feeling the pinch just as much as the rest of the nation,” Mr Johnston said. 

“From our point of view it’s an ongoing issue nationwide.” 

Mr Johnston attributed the shortage to a “poor few years”.

It is unknown how many staff are affected. 

JBS Australia were contacted for comment. 

In August 2016, the company announced 112 of its staff at the Longford plant would be temporarily stood down because of a lack of suitable livestock to process.

However 100 of those were re-employed in November.