The idling of the two plants, which is expected to be completed within 60 days, will eliminate about 600 jobs, and the company will provide transition programs to employees whose positions are eliminated to assist them in securing new employment, filing for unemployment and obtaining other applicable benefits.

Value-added items currently produced in Bossier City will be shifted to other further processing facilities. Pilgrim's Pride plans to keep both plants idle until it believes that industry margins can be sustained at more normalized levels of profitability should these or our other production cutbacks be reversed.

The company attributed the move to the continued imbalance in supply and demand in the U.S. chicken industry, which has led to market prices for breast meat that are unusually weak for the peak summer grilling season. Market pricing for breast meat is currently at $1.33 per pound, well below the prior five-year average for August of about $1.63 per pound, and significantly below the average price of more than $1.80 just four years ago.

Earlier this year, the company announced production cutbacks for the second half of fiscal year 2008, the closure of a plant in North Carolina and seven distribution centers, and the consolidation of tray-pack operations in El Dorado, Ark., to six other facilities. Those changes, when combined with this latest announcement, will result in the elimination of nearly 2,300 jobs.

“During the past six months, [we have] taken a number of proactive steps to strengthen our competitive position amid a very difficult operating environment,” said Clint Rivers, president and CEO of Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim’s Pride. “While we had sincerely hoped to avoid further facility closures or consolidations, we recognize that we must do everything in our control to pass along higher input costs. We believe the actions, while painful, are needed to position Pilgrim’s Pride to emerge from this down cycle as a stronger, more efficient competitor.”

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