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.

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

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.