On Sept. 3, Moody's said it is reviewing Pilgrim's Pride's debt rating based on "concern that profitability could erode more severely in fiscal 2008 than previously contemplated based on volatile and still high grain costs and uncertainty about the extent to which domestic chicken market prices rise to offset input costs."

The debt rating agency specifically mentioned recent Russian actions that might curtail Pilgrim's Pride's chicken imports. "Additional pressures on market pricing could come from any drop in demand for U.S. chicken, should there be a prolonged ban by Russian, for example," the debt rating agency said.

Last week Russia banned chicken imports from 19 U.S. processing plants, and officials said they planned to decrease quotas for chicken and pork imports from the United States.

On Aug. 29, Moody's said it put Tyson's debt under review for possible downgrade, also citing concern over volatile and high grain costs, which it said "could preclude material near term improvement in Tyson's chicken segment, which accounts for nearly one-third of consolidated revenues."

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