NYSE-listed Pilgrim's Pride Corp., which has several processing plants in Alabama, has filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The filing, which was made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, if sanctioned, will allow the company to restructure under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan.

Quoting the company's difficulties in tough economic time, the challenges of high feed prices, unbalanced chicken inventory, weak market pricing and falling demand, Pilgrim's Pride said it filed for bankruptcy protection after determining a Chapter 11 reorganization is the best solution to address the company's short-term operational and liquidity difficulties.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is the largest chicken company in the United States and Puerto Rico and the second-largest in Mexico. The company operates processing plants in Athens, Boaz, Russellville and Enterprise.

Further, the company said that its operations will continue as normal.

It may be noted that operations in Mexico and certain operations in the United States are not included in the filing.