CHICAGO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - U.S. agribusiness Cargill

Inc said Wednesday it is permanently laying off 80

employees in Minnesota and an undisclosed number globally in the

latest wave of job cuts among agricultural companies hit by a

broader farm sector slump.

The layoffs, part of a plan announced last December to cut

its workforce by 5%, were aimed at "reducing redundancy in

select professional areas," Cargill said in an emailed

statement.

The layoffs were not triggered by any business exits and

were not tied to replacing human workers with automation or

artificial intelligence, the Minnesota-based company said.

Cargill is the largest privately-held U.S. company, with a

global workforce of about 155,000.

About 80 employees in Minnesota, including staff at

Cargill's Wayzata Office Center, will be laid off beginning on

December 31 and will be offered severance pay and outplacement

services, according to a Cargill letter sent to the Minnesota

Department of Employment and Economic Development on Monday.

Cargill's workforce reductions are the latest in a wave of

job cuts following announcements at tech giant Amazon ( AMZN ), retailer

Target and others, and the firing of numerous federal government

employees.