Tyson Foods Inc. expects this summer to complete as much as $17 million in capital improvements to boost production at its Cherokee, Iowa, deli meats plant, according to media reports. Projects involve six new smokehouses and chillers ($12 million) and additional slicing lines ($5 million), according to Jerry Menke, general manager of Tyson Deli. Tyson, Springdale, Ark., expects to boost capacity by 20 million to 75 million pounds for hot dogs, Canadian bacon and deli meat. . . . Pilgrim's Pride Corp., Pittsburg, Texas, reportedly plans to cut second shift processing and eliminate 505 jobs at its Live Oak, Fla., chicken processing plant. . . . Meadowbrook Farms, a Belleville, Ill.-based cooperative, said it temporarily shuttered a Rantoul, Ill., pork processing facility and laid off 600 workers. Meadowbrook attributed the move to a contract default by Triad Foods Group, Northfield, Ill.