
Pure Prairie Poultry’s bankruptcy resulted in nearly 50 farmers and more than 2 million chickens throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa left without feed or processing options.
Wisconsin Congressman Derrick Van Orden, along with U.S. representatives from Minnesota and Iowa, penned a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighting the lack of oversight and accountability by USDA. The members of Congress requested answers from the agency on their loan and grant processes, as well as their knowledge of Pure Prairie Poultry’s bankruptcy filing.
“Many of our poultry farmers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa were left in the lurch by the USDA’s absence of oversight and accountability of Pure Prairie Poultry,” says Van Orden, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee. “The USDA will answer for the $45.6 million in loans and grants given to Pure Prairie Poultry, and PPP will answer for what they did with that money before they stiffed our farmers.”
See previous coverage on the story: