• Livestock and meat producers, in particular, have needed capital as they struggle with high costs for feed and fuel.

• Meat companies rely on revolving credit supplied by banks, which might be jeopardized if banks refuse to give loans.

CHICAGO — The global credit crisis threatens the livelihoods of American farmers and meat producers unless the US government implements a financial bailout plan, a top executive of a New York investment bank said.

Virtually anyone in the agricultural sector who needs to obtain loans will be affected – farmers who plant crops, ranchers who feed cattle, and meat companies that process beef, pork and chicken.

"What people are misunderstanding is that the credit pressures that exist in the system today affect everybody," Kenneth Berliner, president of the New York investment bank Peter J. Solomon Company, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"A grower needs money to plant his crop. If there is no credit available in the system, the grower can’t borrow money, hence the crops don’t get planted," he said.

Peter J. Solomon Company helps firms recapitalize and seek private financing, and assists with mergers and acquisitions. Some of its customers are meat companies.

"We have great concern that unless the (bailout) bill is passed and pressure is taken off of the system, there will be adverse consequences in the weeks and months to come," he said of the agriculture sector.

A $700 billion federal bailout plan was rejected early this week by the House of Representatives, but a revised one is has been passed by the Senate. A vote by the House of Representative was likely on Friday.

Livestock and meat producers, in particular, have needed capital as they struggle with high costs for feed and fuel and the inability to raise meat prices enough to cover those costs.

Shares of chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride Corp have lost nearly 80 percent of their value since last week. The company said it expected a loss for its just-completed fiscal quarter and needed a waiver so that it would not violate a credit covenant.

In the past few months, other major meat companies have reported sharply lower earnings or losses because of the higher input costs.

"The (meat) industry as a whole is beset by lower prices on the demand side and higher prices on the feed side, and rising energy costs," said Berliner.

Some of these meat companies rely on revolving credit supplied by banks. Although unlikely, Berliner said that if more banks fall victim to the credit crisis, revolving credit could be jeopardized.

"I don’t expect that will happen. I expect some bill to pass in the days or weeks to come and if it gets passed it will alleviate much of the pressure that is on the system," he said. "If the bill does not get passed, then I think the pressure will continue to build and we could have some problems."