Minnesota
More than 1.4 million chickens stranded by closure of Pure Prairie Poultry plant euthanized
Farmers without feed were facing costs of $20,000 a week or more to care for a bankrupt company’s poultry, she said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture loaned and granted $45 million to Pure Prairie, and Republican members of Congress, including Minnesota Reps. Brad Finstad and Michelle Fischbach, are demanding answers from the USDA.
“We remain deeply concerned about the lack of oversight USDA has provided in this case,” reads a letter from the contingent of Midwestern lawmakers. “While we share USDA’s desired goals of expanding meat processing capacity and markets and building a robust national food supply chain, … American taxpayers deserve the peace of mind that their dollars are being spent wisely.”
Wisconsin’s Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin urged the agency to “ensure a preventable emergency like this never happens again.”