Nine Republican lawmakers are seeking additional insight into the USDA’s $45.6 million investment in Pure Prairie Poultry, which closed early this month, and the steps the agency has taken to help growers.
The shuttered plant in Charles City, Iowa, received a $6.9 million grant from USDA’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program and a $39 million Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan from the agency.
In a letter to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, the lawmakers say the plant reported liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million, with $50 million to $100 million in assets. The lawmakers say they’re “deeply concerned about the lack of oversight USDA has provided in this case.”
“USDA is responsible for keeping tabs on the taxpayer-funded grants it administers, but it clearly dropped the ball with Pure Prairie,” Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, one of the letter’s signers, says in a press release. "Iowans and others across America’s Heartland have lost their jobs and their poultry market as a result of Pure Prairie’s closure. USDA must explain to Congress and the public what went wrong to help prevent a repeat scenario.”
House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Senate Ag Ranking Member John Boozman, R-Ark., both signed the letter, as did Reps. Brad Finstad and Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota, Randy Feenstra and Ashley Hinson of Iowa, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.
USDA’s response: USDA spokesperson Allan Rodriguez told Agri-Pulse in a statement that the department has been “working furiously to rebuild and create new markets for farmers, after many important ones were decimated by trade wars and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He added that “millions of dollars of investments in these lawmakers’ states are providing critically important new options for farmers, strengthening local and regional food supply chains, expanding independent processing capacity, lowering input costs, and more, actions which many of these signers have championed."
"At the same time, given its importance as a processing option for Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin farmers, USDA is working to help the facility reopen,” Rodriguez said. "Rather than trying to score political points, those members of Congress should work with USDA to reopen the facility and pass a new farm bill, which is now two years late.”
Biden Administration awards grants to increase domestic biofuel access
USDA has awarded $39 million in grants to fueling station and distribution owners and other businesses to support the availability of affordable domestic biofuels.
The grants come from the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program and the Biobased Market Access and Development Program, which utilize funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation and Inflation Reduction Act.
Grants from the Higher Blends Infrastructure program help owners of fueling stations and marine, rail and home heating oil facilities install and upgrade infrastructure to support biofuels. These could include fuel pumps, dispensers and storage tanks. The grants will go to 39 projects in 18 states, including California, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and more.
The agency will also use $200 million in previously transferred CCC funds to create the Biobased Product Market Development and Access Grant Program. The goal is to support biobased technologies and bring pilot-scale demonstrations to market.
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“By increasing the supply of biofuels made here in the U.S., we are helping to lower costs for American families, strengthening our energy independence, creating new streams of income for agricultural producers and bringing good-paying jobs to people in rural communities,” Deputy Ag Secretary Xochitl Torres Small said in a release.
APHIS approves new genetically modified plant varieties
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has cleared genetically modified corn, almond and tomato varieties for sale in the U.S.
The agency has determined a corn variety developed by GreenLab Inc., that produces an enzyme to degrade cellulose and is resistant to the herbicide glufosinate is unlikely to pose an increased pest risk compared to other plants. It also cleared an almond intended by Halo Genetics to be less reliant on pollinators and more efficient to harvest.
The agency also approved a tomato developed by Norfolk Plant Sciences, which was genetically engineered for color and nutritional reasons.
Kennedy has to stay on ballot in Michigan, Wisconsin
The Supreme Court has rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to remove his name as a presidential candidate from the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin.
The ruling issued Tuesday could complicate Donald Trump’s ability to win the swing states if Kennedy supporters stick with their original candidate instead of voting for Trump – as Kennedy has been urging them to do.
“With Trump, you're voting for me, you're voting for Elon Musk, you're voting for Tulsi [Gabbard], you're voting for JD Vance,” Kennedy said on a call with supporters Monday night,
Read more about Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again campaign in this week’s newsletter. We also have reports on key House and Senate races.
Final word. When it comes to producing pumpkins, Illinois is king. Illinois harvested 15,400 acres last year, more than twice as many as any other state. Indiana was next, followed by Pennsylvania, California, Michigan and Washington, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service.
About 70% of Illinois-produced pumpkins are used for processing. Most of the pumpkins in the other five states are sold as fresh.
"Growers mainly produce jack-o'-lantern type pumpkins (Howden), but demand for specialty pumpkins—like White Howden, Fairytale, or Heirloom—continues to expand as consumers look for new and interesting varieties,” ERS says.
Correction: The original version had the incorrect state for Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark.
