美国有机鸡肉生产商Pure Prairie Poultry于上个月申请破产并关闭了位于爱荷华州查尔斯城的工厂，导致数十名在爱荷华州、明尼苏达州和威斯康星州的农民面临困境。该企业在2021年收购了这家工厂后，一直在努力恢复盈利。美国农业部在2022年为其提供了3900万美元的贷款担保和700万美元的补助金，但公司表示，由于供应链问题和鸡肉价格低迷，以及获得贷款的延迟，该公司陷入困境。由于Pure Prairie Poultry的倒闭，农民们无法获得鸡苗和饲料，导致数十万只鸡面临生命危险，农民的经济也受到严重影响。美国农业部正在与各州农业部门合作，评估对受影响的农民的援助方案，并正在探索该工厂恢复运营的可能性。

🐔 Pure Prairie Poultry于上个月申请破产并关闭了位于爱荷华州查尔斯城的工厂，导致数十名在爱荷华州、明尼苏达州和威斯康星州的农民面临困境。该公司在2021年收购了这家工厂后，一直在努力恢复盈利。美国农业部在2022年为其提供了3900万美元的贷款担保和700万美元的补助金，但公司表示，由于供应链问题和鸡肉价格低迷，以及获得贷款的延迟，该公司陷入困境。

🐓 由于Pure Prairie Poultry的倒闭，农民们无法获得鸡苗和饲料，导致数十万只鸡面临生命危险，农民的经济也受到严重影响。爱荷华州农业部已经介入，接管了14个农场中约130万只鸡的饲养和照料工作，并正在尝试从Pure Prairie Poultry那里追回相关费用。明尼苏达州农业部则采取了处理、转移或扑杀部分鸡的措施，确保剩余的鸡只按照人道的方式进行扑杀。

🐤 美国参议员塔米·鲍德温在致美国农业部的信中警告，随着越来越多的农民被迫将鸡只赠送给能够负担得起饲养成本的人，威斯康星州存在禽流感蔓延的风险。美国农业部表示，他们正在与各州农业部门保持联系，并正在评估对受影响的农民的援助方案。农民可以向美国农业部提出索赔，并从当地自然资源保护局获得支持。

🐣 美国农业部表示，他们正在探索该工厂恢复运营的可能性，并会继续提供支持。

🐥 该事件也突显了美国有机鸡肉市场对单一生产商的依赖，以及供应链中断对农民和动物福利的影响。

Dozens of farmers in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are scrambling to feed their flocks after a struggling organic chicken producer abruptly closed.Pure Prairie Poultry shuttered its Charles City, Iowa, plant after filing for bankruptcy last month. The Minnesota company provided farmers with chicks and feed to raise until the birds were ready to be slaughtered and prepared for sale at the northeastern Iowa processing center.Associated Press emails to Pure Prairie lawyers were not immediately answered Thursday. But in bankruptcy court documents, the company detailed its fight to reopen and make profits after acquiring the struggling Charles City plant in 2021.The U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2022 gave Pure Prairie a $39 million guaranteed loan to expand operations, as well as a $7 million grant. The company said the grant worked as a stopgap as it waited for what it described as delayed access to the loan.In court records, the company said financial problems also stemmed from supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and low chicken prices.After Pure Prairie Poultry closed, checks and chicken feed for farmers raising the birds dried up — threatening an animal welfare crisis and straining farmers’ finances, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, of Wisconsin, said in a Wednesday letter requesting help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.“This situation remains urgent due to the hundreds of thousands of animals’ lives at risk and the financial hit for the farmers that contracted with this processor,” Baldwin wrote.The Iowa Department of Agriculture earlier this month pledged to feed and help care for about 1.3 million chickens at 14 Iowa farms. The agency took ownership of the birds through a court order and now is trying to recoup costs from Pure Prairie.Another 300,000 chickens in Minnesota were “processed, moved off the farms, or depopulated,” state Agriculture Department spokesperson Allen Sommerfeld said in a statement.“The MDA, farmers, and partners were able to process some birds, and others were given away by farmers,” Sommerfeld said. “While the chickens do not pose a health or safety risk, the MDA utilized emergency resources to ensure the remaining chickens were humanely depopulated according to American Veterinary Medication Association standards and overseen by experts from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.”Baldwin in her letter to the USDA warned about the risk of bird flu spreading in Wisconsin “as farmers have no better option than to give away chickens by the tens of thousands” to people who can afford to feed them.A USDA spokesperson said the agency is in touch with the Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of agriculture and is considering what financial aid could be made available to local farmers. Growers can file claims with the USDA and get support from local Natural Resources Conservation Service centers.“At the same time, the number of producers who relied on this market underscores the need to explore how the facility might continue with a return to profitability, which USDA will continue to assist in,” the spokesperson said.