Poultry company Allen Family Foods has laid off 28 employees at its Talbot County processing plant, the local economic development director has said.

Baltimore Sun reports that the layoffs in Cordova – near Easton – came Friday, said Paige Bethke, head of the county's economic development office. The company employed about 450 people there before the cuts.

Allen Family Foods, based in Seaford, Delaware, filed for bankruptcy protection in June and is awaiting an auction date to sell almost all its assets. The company blamed economic challenges, including a rapid increase in feed costs. Paige Bethke added that the lay-offs were related to business conditions rather than the bankruptcy process.