The company is sharing record profits with plant employees, who tell the Daily Herald that the annual event means a lot and helps around the holidays.

The Austin-based company reports earnings for refrigerated foods were down 44 percent in the first quarter. Hormel says leaner profit margins for pork were a big ingredient in that. CEO and President Jeff Ettinger expects slowly improving results this year.

Strong sales of Spam and Jennie-O products helped the Austin-based meat producer meet Wall Street expectations. Hormel's third quarter earnings rose to $111.2 million, or 41 cents per share, in the third quarter ended on July 29 compared to $98.5 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.

The Austin-based food maker says strong demand for its Jennie-O products and Spam helped boost sales in the quarter that ended in April.

Workers at the Hormel Foods plant in Austin are being screened for tuberculosis after one employee there was identified with the contagious disease, KAAL TV reports. Tuberculosis is a health issue for the workers at the plant, but not a threat to food safety, the station reports.

The workers say they're upset that the outgoing MnSCU chancellor was given a $50,000 bonus -- especially now after layoffs and tuition hikes. MnSCU officials say the money isn’t a bonus, but rather performance pay.