The Foster Farms poultry processing plant in north Louisiana has decided to postpone plans for expansion, but officials say the decision will not impact the California company's employment commitment to the state, which paid $50 million to save the Farmerville facility in a controversial 2009 deal orchestrated by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The company said it will compensate chicken growers who might take a financial loss from the delay.
Ira Brill, director of marketing services for the Livingston, Calif., company, said Foster Farms had begun plans during the summer to expand its base of about 100 chicken growers by an additional 29 farms. That increase would have put the Farmerville plant at close to full capacity.
Those expansion plans have been put on hold because of sharply rising prices for corn, a key overhead feed cost for raising chickens. Bad weather, tight supplies and a federal government emphasis on corn-made ethanol fuel have combined to create a commodities future price range for corn at $5.62 to $5.82 per bushel, representing a 70 percent rise since June.
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