8-K

                  SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                        Washington, D.C.  20549

                               FORM 8-K

                            CURRENT REPORT

                 Pursuant to Section 13 or 15d of the

                  Securities and Exchange Act of 1934


                      ---------------------------

                   Date of Report (Date of earliest
                    event reported) March 20, 1997



                            WLR Foods, Inc.
        (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

         Virginia            0-17060              54-1295923
        (State of        (Commission File     (IRS Employer Iden-
      Incorporation)         Number)            tification No.)


                P.O. Box 7000                        22815
              Broadway, Virginia                  (Zip Code)
   (Address of Principal executive offices)


                            (540) 896-7001
                    (Registrant's telephone number,
                         including area code)



Item 5.   Other Events

On March  20, 1997,  the company made  the announcement  in the  Press
Release at Exhibit 99.  


                               EXHIBITS

     Exhibit 99     Press Release dated March 20, 1997


                                   1



                               SIGNATURE

          Pursuant to the requirements  of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934,  the Registrant has duly  caused this report to  be signed on
its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

                              WLR Foods, Inc.


                              By:__/s/_James L. Keeler____________
                                   James L. Keeler
                                   President and
                                   Chief Executive Officer


                                   2

EX-99

                                                            Exhibit 99




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     
                         Analyst Contact:    Stanley H. Gray,
                                             Director of Investor 
                                             Relations
                                             540-896-7001

                         Media Contact:      Gail Price, Director of
                                             Corporate Communication
                                             704-624-2171

   WLR FOODS ANNOUNCES COMMON STOCK DIVIDEND, CHICKEN EXPANSION AND 
                    NORTH CAROLINA TURKEY REDUCTION

Broadway, Virginia, March 20, 1997   The Board of Directors of WLR
Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: WLRF) declared a stock dividend to be distributed
on May 2, 1997 to its shareholders of record as of April 11, 1997. In
lieu of the regular cash dividend, this dividend will be paid in stock
with .00525 shares being distributed for each share of common stock
outstanding on the record date. Based on yesterday s market close, the
estimated value of the stock dividend will be equivalent in value to a
$0.06 per share cash dividend. 

In addition, the company announced plans to increase its total chicken
output by approximately 10% through the expansion of its Goldsboro,
North Carolina chicken complex.  Production will be gradually
increased to meet the normally higher demand expected this summer. 
When the project is ultimately completed during the first half of
1998, the capacity at this complex will have been doubled to 650,000
birds per week.  During the expansion, the company expects to add more
than 100 poultry houses and increase employment at the complex from
the current 400 to nearly 700 people.  

The company also announced that it is reducing turkey production in
its Marshville, North Carolina complex where Poult Enteritis Mortality
Syndrome (PEMS) has dramatically affected flock performance.  With the
assistance of various experts on PEMS, the company has developed a
plan to contain the impact and spread of the disease by reducing
turkey density in the Union County area and intensifying biosecurity
and management practices.  While the company aggressively encourages
and participates in continued research directed at a diagnosis and
cure, it is reducing density by suspending placements on the turkey
farms most severely affected by disease until a solution can be found.

WLR Foods is a fully integrated provider of high quality turkey and
chicken products primarily under the Wampler Foods(R)  label and
retail ice under the Cassco(R) label. This $1 billion sales company is
nationally ranked as the seventh largest poultry processor by sales
volume and has processing operations in Virginia, North Carolina, West
Virginia, and Pennsylvania, close to its major mid-Atlantic markets.

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