Cypress Foods bankruptcy disposition of hens complete says Ag Chief

ATLANTA - Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture
Tommy Irvin announced today that the disposition of more than a million
chickens left without adequate food following the bankruptcy of a Florida egg
company is now complete.

The state Department of Agriculture advised, monitored and supervised the trustees of Cypress Foods, Inc., with the removal and disposal of approximately 1.2 million hens at nine farms in southeast Georgia.

Approximately 705,000 hens were sold to other poultry business entities, 40,000 were shipped to slaughter and 426,000 were humanely euthanized.

The Department expended more than 180 working hours in helping resolve this dilemma, according to Commissioner Irvin.

The company's bankruptcy left the egg producers with little or no supply of feed. Under the agreement the producers had with the company, the company supplied feed for the birds. Cost of the feed could be thousands of dollars per week depending on the size of the operation.

"Some producers tried purchasing feed themselves to keep the flocks alive until a solution could be found. We persuaded the bankruptcy judge to allow what little cash assets were available be used to remedy the situation," said Commissioner Irvin.

"We want to thank the Georgia Poultry Federation for helping rally support
from the poultry industry and Wimpey Poultry, American Protein Inc., Claxton Poultry and Tim Ford for providing feed, workers or services to assist in resolving this problem," said Irvin.