Earlier in the month we learned of the situation surrounding the Pure Prairie Poultry company and the financial woes leading to producers not having feed for the birds and lacking the payments they were supposed to receive. The Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship (IDALS) stepped in and used its authorities to get a court order to take control of the birds and remedy the situation quickly.
Because of court proceedings, IDALS was not able to comment directly, but earlier this week they provided an update. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig visited with us this week on several topics. I asked him to expand upon the situation from what the press release said. The Secretary started by recapping the horrible situation.
Secretary Naig explains what had to be done by IDALS to try and get a handle on things.
IDALS wanted to try and market the birds and help the producers. However, when creditors and lien holders operate only in dollar signs and not in the practicality of the agriculture industry, they created a roadblock. Soon it became apparent that euthanization was the only available course of action.
Naig stresses that veterinarians were on site to oversee the process and the guidelines for the euthanization were followed to the letter. The birds had suffered enough, there was no need to make them suffer anymore.
The situation also exposed, in Wisconsin’s case, the glaring gaps they had in the authority to step in and take care of the situation. Secretary Naig says while he can’t speak to each state’s options, he’s hoping that the authority IDALS has can be a model in other states to prevent this from happening again in the future. Naig also said that IDALS found loose ends they need to tie up as well.
With the HPAI situation, the poultry industry has had to take some unforeseen lumps that could not be avoided. However, what differs from this situation is that this could have been avoided. While livestock is raised for consumption, Naig reminds consumers that producers are heartbroken when things go beyond their control. Losing sick birds is bad enough, but when the ability to provide for their care is taken away, producers are beside themselves.
Another question that will remain is how much oversight does USDA have with their grant and loan recipients.
