Midwest chicken farmers struggle to feed flocks after sudden closure of processor

Dozens of farmers in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are scrambling to feed their flocks after a struggling organic broiler chicken producer abruptly closed a year after getting a $39 million federal loan.

Pure Prairie Poultry shuttered its Charles City, Iowa, plant after filing for bankruptcy last month. The Minnesota company provided farmers with chicks and feed to raise until the birds were ready to be slaughtered and prepared for sale at the northeastern Iowa processing center.

“We know that our difficulties are causing real hardship for our growers and for others,” Pure Prairie spokesperson Jon Austin said in an email. "And for that we apologize without reservation.”

In bankruptcy court documents, the company detailed its fight to reopen and make profits after acquiring the struggling Charles City plant in 2021.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2022 gave Pure Prairie a $39 million guaranteed loan to expand operations, as well as a $7 million grant. The company said the grant worked as a stopgap until it got access to the loan in April 2023.

In court records, the company said financial problems also stemmed from supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and low chicken prices.

Pure Prairie ultimately backed out of bankruptcy, and Austin said the company's funds subsequently were frozen by a third-party lender.

Austin said Pure Prairie is still trying to sell the business.

After Pure Prairie Poultry closed, checks and chicken feed for farmers raising the birds dried up — threatening an animal welfare crisis and straining farmers' finances, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, of Wisconsin, said in a Wednesday letter requesting help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This situation remains urgent due to the hundreds of thousands of animals’ lives at risk and the financial hit for the farmers that contracted with this processor,” Baldwin wrote.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture earlier this month pledged to feed and help care for about 1.3 million chickens at 14 Iowa farms. The agency took ownership of the birds through a court order and now is trying to recoup costs from Pure Prairie.

Another 300,000 chickens in Minnesota were “processed, moved off the farms, or depopulated,” state Agriculture Department spokesperson Allen Sommerfeld said in a statement.

“The MDA, farmers, and partners were able to process some birds, and others were given away by farmers," Sommerfeld said. "While the chickens do not pose a health or safety risk, the MDA utilized emergency resources to ensure the remaining chickens were humanely depopulated according to American Veterinary Medication Association standards and overseen by experts from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.”

Baldwin in her letter to the USDA warned about the risk of bird flu spreading in Wisconsin “as farmers have no better option than to give away chickens by the tens of thousands” to people who can afford to feed them.

A USDA spokesperson said the agency is in touch with the Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of agriculture and is considering what financial aid could be made available to local farmers. Growers can file claims with the USDA and get support from local Natural Resources Conservation Service centers.

“At the same time, the number of producers who relied on this market underscores the need to explore how the facility might continue with a return to profitability, which USDA will continue to assist in,” the spokesperson said.