RESPONDERS EVACUATED: Forest Service officials responding to Hurricane Helene’s damage in North Carolina were evacuated due to threats from an “armed militia” that was “hunting” FEMA workers, the Washington Post reported. A Forest Service official told the Washington Post that the subagency paused work in Rutherford County, including clearing trees off blocked roads for search-and-rescue crews and easier delivery of supplies. In a Monday social media post, local law enforcement said the threat came from a single man with an assault rifle who had made comments about “possibly harming FEMA employees” — contradicting early reports that there were “truck loads” of militia accompanying him. USDA had deployed 200 employees to Southeastern states to help with damage assessment and aid as of last Tuesday. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has warned top USDA officials to be conscious of and combat misinformation in the hurricane recovery process, echoing concerns from other federal heads including FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. POULTRY PROBLEMS: Over a million broiler chickens — birds raised for their meat — were left starving after Pure Prairie Poultry Inc., chicken processor in Iowa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month and ran out of money to buy feed. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship was granted an emergency court order to take over care and control of the chickens. In its bankruptcy filing, the company reported at least $38 million in losses. The processing facility, located in Charles City, Iowa, employs 138 full-time workers. USDA financing : In April 2022, USDA had awarded the company, which focuses on a “premium and organic” market, a $38.7 million loan through the Food Supply Chain Guarantee Loan Program as part of the department’s financing to revive a previously shuttered plant. But a drop in poultry prices and lingering supply chain problems delayed the company’s plant refurbishment plans, contributing to problems receiving the proceeds from the loan. Pure Prairie didn’t start drawing on the loan until April 2023. In the interim, USDA awarded Pure Prairie a nearly $7 million grant from USDA as part of its Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, a Biden administration initiative designed to spur competition and boost upstart companies in a highly consolidated meat industry. The administration allocated over $1 billion in grants and loans toward the effort. According to the bankruptcy filing, the money helped fill the gap but wasn’t enough to prevent nearly $38 million in losses from November 2023 to the present. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship declined to comment beyond a previous press release announcing the court order. According to Allen Sommerfeld, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, all of the approximately 300,000 birds on farms in Minnesota “have either been processed, moved off the farms, or depopulated.” The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment. What’s next for the growers? USDA spokesperson Allan Rodriguez wrote in a statement that “USDA has been made aware of an emerging situation” for the roughly 50 growers that raise birds for Pure Prairie. “We are in close contact with the departments of agriculture from each respective state to provide support for growers who relied on this market under state indemnity programs, or through USDA’s statutorily mandated poultry trust established by the Packers and Stockyards Act,” he wrote, adding that USDA encourages contract growers to contact their state ag departments “or otherwise file a written notice of a claim through USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.” He added: “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 with in conjunction with the company and its state partners.” Context : The Biden administration has made tackling monopolies, especially in meat and poultry markets, a central focus of his administration, ratcheting up antitrust enforcement and spending billions to support small and mid-sized businesses. But anti-monopoly advocates, who have enthusiastically supported Biden’s work, have long warned that spending on small meatpackers — without cracking down on illegal anticompetitive conduct — won’t be enough to reshape the market and could leave new businesses vulnerable to bankruptcy.
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