Simmons Prepared Foods, an affiliate company of Simmons Foods Inc., will cut 223 jobs at its Siloam Springs plant when it moves slaughter production to its Decatur facility, reports Arkansas Business.

The company will try to find jobs elsewhere in the organisation for the affected employees, COO Todd Simmons said in a news release last week.

As part of its realignment, the company also said it will move its Decatur hatchery operations to a facility in Jane, Missouri.

The company did not give a timeline for the moves. It blamed US ethanol policy for the rising cost of feed for poultry producers.

As a result of the policy, "The poultry industry has been forced to compensate by reducing costs and increasing pricing where the market allows," the company said.

After the changes, Simmons will still employ more than 1,200 people in Siloam Springs and nearly 700 in Decatur, the company said.