Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 6/29/11

Poultry companies pressured by rising feedgrain costs are trimming production plans and cutting jobs, Harrison Poultry President and CEO Mike Welch told members of the Senate Agriculture Committee this week.

“Companies can no longer withstand the storm,” he said. “They are trimming their production plans, which means growers will receive fewer chicks to grow to market-ready broilers, and processing plant work shifts are being reduced or even eliminated.”

Welch noted that one company had to eliminate a second shift, and 300 jobs with it, while another company announced recently that it is cutting over 200 jobs due to the cost of feed.   A third company was forced to file for bankruptcy and sell its assets to another firm, he said.  

Welch linked high corn prices to the federal government’s ethanol program. He also said proposed federal rules on the production and marketing of livestock and poultry have also put the industry under a cloud.

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