Pilgrim's Pride to Close Facilities

PITTSBURG, Texas — Pilgrim’s Pride has announced it will close a chicken process complex along with six distribution centers in the United States as a result of the industry-wide crisis of soaring feed-ingredient costs.

"Our company and industry are struggling to cope with unprecedented increases in feed-ingredient costs this year due largely to the U.S. government’s ill-advised policy of providing generous federal subsidies to corn-based ethanol blenders," said Clint Rivers, president and chief executive officer. "The cost burden is already enormous, and it’s growing even larger. Based on current commodity futures markets, our company’s total costs for corn and soybean meal to feed our flocks in fiscal 2008 would be more than $1.3 billion higher than what there were two years ago. We simply must find ways to pass along these higher costs."

The closings are expected to begin immediately and end in June, cutting about 1,100 jobs from the chicken processing complex in Siler City, N.C., and distribution centers in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Plant City and Pompano Beach, Fla., Jackson, Miss., Nashville, Tenn., and Cincinnati.

Read the full MeatPoultry.com story here.