North Dakota Natural Beef LLC will immediately end operations and lay off all 52 workers at its Fargo, N.D., beef and bison plant, after losing its largest customer, a Chicago-based beef company that completed a plant expansion in Buffalo Lake, Minn., according to Dieter Pape, president and CEO.

The North American Bison Cooperative (NABC), a bison and beef kill plant in Rockford, N.D., also NDNB’s majority owner, is not impacted by the closure and will be operated as a separate entity.