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Iowa ag agency to take care of Pure Prairie Poultry chickens

Court grants emergency order for care of chickens the company no longer has the resources to feed.

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The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) was granted an emergency court order to take immediate care, custody and control of about 1.3 million broiler chickens that were being raised for Pure Prairie Poultry.

The Minnesota-based company, which operates a plant in Charles City, Iowa, earlier filed for bankruptcy, and court documents revealed that the company has assets between $50 million and $100 million, but liabilities between $100 million and $500 million with between 200 and 999 creditors.

Pure Prairie Poultry contracts with 14 farms throughout Iowa, a press release from IDALS stated, and the agency was informed by the company on September 30 that it no longer had the financial ability to purchase feed for the chickens.

IDALS, upon that notification, coordinated with state and federal agencies, as well as industry partners, to seek a possible solution. With no immediately available solution and citing significant potential animal welfare concerns, IDALS, under its authority in Iowa Code Chapter 717, sought the court order to take control of the birds. The court order was issued on October 2.

The agency is now working with the farmers to provide feed and care for the birds, the press release stated. IDALS will then seek reimbursement of the taxpayers’ costs from responsible parties, including through possible legal solutions.

IDALS has also alerted relevant local law enforcement agencies of the situation.

Pure Prairie Poultry formed in 2021 after it purchased the plant in Charles City, which was previously operated by Simply Essentials before that company closed it in 2019.

The company has described itself as a company that delivers premium quality chicken products to retail, deli, and foodservice segments. It says its products are “all natural, air-chilled, and well-trimmed,” and “come from chickens raised under strict animal welfare standards, with no antibiotics ever, and fed a vegetable- and grain-based diet.”

Pure Prairie Poultry filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota on September 20. However, that petition has since been dismissed amid objections from creditors.

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