The Quality Pork meat processing plant in Austin, Minn., which produces pork mainly for Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL), is down early Thursday due to widespread power outages in the area from severe storms that passed through the area late Wednesday.

Much of Austin, Minn., remains without power after a tornado grazed the northern and northwestern sides of the city, according to the Albert Lea, Minn., Tribune Web site. The power went out around 8:25 p.m. CST Wednesday.

Calls to the company for confirmation and comment on the matter have not yet been returned. The plant can process about 18,000 hogs per day.

Livestock dealers said they have been instructed to hold or divert loads of hogs that had been scheduled for delivery to the plant early Thursday.

-By Curt Thacker, Dow Jones Newswires; 913-322-5178; curt.thacker@dowjones.com