Tyson Foods is closing four chicken processing plants, including one in Southwest Missouri.

 The company announced this morning of the closing of plants in North Little Rock, Arkansas, Corydon, Indiana, and Dexter and Noel, Missouri. Production will shift to other facilities and operations will be halted by the end of the second quarter of next year.

 The closings are a part of a cost cutting measure which include the closing of corporate offices in Chicago and South Dakota and the additional closing of plants in Arkansas and Virginia. The announcement comes after fiscal third-quarter losses of $417-million dollars.

 Shares of Tyson dropped sharply before the market's open this morning.