United States-Help needed for poultry farmers.

UNITED STATES-HELP FOR POULTRY FARMERS.U.S. Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) is appealing to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for federal funds to help struggling chicken farmers stay afloat during the economic downtown, saying the Pilgrim’s Pride bankruptcy threatens the state’s poultry industry.

Ross sent a letter to Vilsack asking him to free a portion of USDA’s rural development funds, made available in the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for short-term low-interest loans or other forms of financial assistance such as disaster aid funding.

Ross was joined in the letter by eight other members of Congress.

Pilgrim’s Pride, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December, announced in February it would idle three poultry processing plants, including a facility in El Dorado, Ark., and cut overall production as much as 10 percent.

"The financial troubles of Pilgrim’s Pride and the imminent closing of their El Dorado plant jeopardize the local economy," Ross said in a statement released Thursday. He urged that the plant remain open.

"I am also deeply concerned with the tremendous financial burden this bankruptcy will place on contract growers in Arkansas, threatening our state’s overall poultry industry," Ross said.