It’s going to be interesting to see how the word “ethanol” is used at the upcoming International Poultry Expo which we’ll be covering right here on AgWired. Apparently it’s not a pleasant word at Pilgrim’s Pride. The company just announced a Chapter 11 filing and according to a story on AgWeb it sounds like they’re blaming their troubles on, you guessed it, “ethanol.”

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NYSE: PPC), together with certain of its wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”), today announced that in an effort to address certain short-term operational and liquidity challenges, it filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”). The Company’s operations are expected to continue as normal throughout the bankruptcy process while it develops a reorganization plan to resolve its temporary operational and liquidity issues. The Company’s operations in Mexico and certain operations in the United States were not included in the filing and will continue to operate outside of the Chapter 11 process.

I don’t know about you but I’m just constantly amazed at how many companies and even industries are blaming their woes on ethanol. Just take the grocers who are blaming high food costs on ethanol even though the price of corn has dropped significantly. They still haven’t dropped their prices. I’m guessing there’s a lot more to this story than just a short lived bump in corn prices.