A Wisconsin poultry grower who contracted with Pure Prairie Poultry tells Agri-Pulse to expect lawsuits to be filed today over the company’s closure. The shutdown has resulted in roughly 2 million chickens left without fed and growers without a processor able to take them.
More than two and a half years ago, Pure Prairie took over the Iowa plant after a previous owner went bankrupt. Armed with $45.6 million in loans and grants from USDA, it embarked on an expansion it hoped would solidify business. But it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month only to ask for the case to be dismissed amid a lack of support from creditors.
Iowa officials took possession of the impacted birds in their state, which have mostly been euthanized. Wisconsin and Minnesota lack laws allowing them to do the same. Some chickens in those states have also been euthanized, while others have been given away. A few were processed at other plants.
"There's a bunch of legal stuff getting filed," said the grower, who asked not to be identified, citing fear it would hurt his ability to secure contracts with other poultry companies in the future. He added, “We've tried so hard, put so much money into this company and they pretty much stole it all from us."
He also said a fellow grower in Western Iowa “had six-and-a-half pound birds. Just beautiful birds. Every flipping one of them got euthanized, which is sad, and the farmer can't even give them to his friends or family because the state said he can't do it."
Pure Prairie Poultry shut its doors earlier this month. A phone call to its listed number was answered with a recording that said the call could not completed.
Fast food groups pull onions from select stores
More fast-food restaurants are proactively removing onions from select stores following a Taylor Farms recall.
Restaurant Brands International’s Burger King asked 5% of restaurants who received whole onions from a Taylor Farms’ Colorado facility to dispose of those “immediately,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to Agri-Pulse.
The FDA is reportedly investigating whether onions supplied by Taylor Farms are the source of an E.coli outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. So far, 49 people have reported illnesses, and one person has died because of the outbreak.
Federal agencies overseeing the outbreak have not confirmed one source of the outbreak, but preliminary traceback information has identified the slivered onions on the burger as the likely source, according to the FDA.
Restaurant supplier US Foods notified customers that Taylor Farms had recalled some onions because of potential E. coli contamination. Customers were instructed to swiftly destroy the recalled products.
Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC have also removed fresh onions from some locations, CNBC reported. It's unclear how many stores were impacted.
FDA’s take: “The FDA is using all available tools to confirm if onions are the source of this outbreak,” an agency spokesperson said in an email. This includes collecting onion samples for analysis and working with state partners and involved companies.
The spokesperson confirmed that the recalled onions had been sent to other customers, who have been notified.
Welch stumps for Democratic ticket, pushes ag trade on Agri-Pulse Newsmakers
Problems faced by rural communities are the same whether you’re in a blue state or a red state, Vermont Democratic Sen. Peter Welch says on the latest episode of Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, airing today.
Welch, whose state is reliably blue, says Vermont dairy farmers are facing the same weather challenges as producers in other parts of the country. He thinks an administration headed by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz would deliver for farmers. Welch and Walz are former House colleagues.
The senator also says he wants farmers to be able to take advantage of the global market for their products. “We ought to be letting farmers export products to Cuba,” he said.
Soy Export Council chair believes deforestation rule will benefit U.S. growers
The European Union’s deforestation rule should help U.S. soybean farmers compete against countries such as Brazil, where deforestation is more likely to exist in modern times, the chair of the U.S. Soybean Export Council said in an Agri-Pulse webinar Thursday.
USSEC Chair Lance Rezac, who also operates a farm in Kansas, recalled seeing recent estimates indicating that there may only be around 5,000 soy acres in the U.S. at risk of deforestation.
The rule requires businesses around the world to prove that cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy and wood they hope to sell to the European market are not linked to deforestation. While it is set to go into effect on Dec. 30, the European Commission is seeking to delay that date to the end of next year.
“We’re really optimistic about that,” Tezac said. “I think that should be a good opportunity for U.S. soy farmers."
DOJ gets $100 million in settlement over Francis Scott Key bridge collapse
Companies based in Singapore will pay nearly $102 million to resolve a civil claim brought by the U.S. for money spent responding to the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The settlement resolves damage claims of about $103 million made under the Rivers and Harbors Act, Oil Pollution Act, and general maritime law. The money will be divided among the U.S. Treasury and the budgets of several of the federal agencies that were directly affected by the event or involved in the response.
The companies are the owners and operators of the DALI, the vessel that hit the bridge.
Rabobank offers ag outlook
Fed cattle supplies “remain comparable to last year” and fall beef demand has proven “resilient,” Rabobank reported in its October North American Agribusiness Review, released Thursday.
Consumer beef demand so far this year is 5% above last year “and remains the second highest in 30 years,” the review said.
Consumers, however, also are buying less at the grocery store and at restaurants amid mixed inflation numbers. Grocery store purchases in the current year’s third quarter were down 2.8% and restaurant spending fell 6.6%, the review said.
The report led off by warning that that inflation could rebound if Donald Trump were to impose a universal tariff on U.S. imports, as he has proposed. Kamala Harris has said she would continue to selectively target China with tariffs, which is “likely to be less inflationary and could therefore allow the Fed to continue cutting [interest] rates.”
Trump says increasing tariffs, or even just threatening to increase them, would force manufacturers to relocate to the U.S. from abroad and deter them from moving production overseas.
Final word: “It should make everybody nervous if there is a role in any future administration for someone that has those kind of viewpoints." -- National Farmers Union President Rob Larew, telling Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be a "massive problem for agriculture" if he were to end up as agriculture secretary.
