AM850.com

High feed prices and less demand for chicken will leave a group of workers in Live Oak looking for jobs. The Pilgrim's Pride chicken production plant will lay off 505 of its 14-hundred employees when it eliminates its second production shift. Director of Corporate Communications Ray Atkinson says this is needed for the company to restore its competitive position. Some local chicken farmers will also feel the effect. The plant contracts with about 158 growers in the Live Oak area and Atkinson says this will effect about 19 of those contracts. The layoff of the second shift is expected to be over by the end of March.