Secretary Vilsack Discusses Pure Prairie Poultry Closure, Bird Flu Dairy Testing Program

By Cami Koons

The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Thursday the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state departments of ag should work to reopen the shuttered chicken processing plant in Charles City.

He also detailed USDA’s new milk testing program to prevent the spread of avian flu. He spoke during a press conference Thursday in Des Moines.

Vilsack said the Pure Prairie Poultry bankruptcy represents an “unusual” and “very unfortunate” circumstance among USDA’s large portfolio of expanding processing capabilities around the country.

Pure Prairie Poultry received $45.6 million in grants and loans from USDA in 2022 to expand and renovate a processing plant in Charles City, which it closed Oct. 2 shortly after the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship took over care of the company’s 1.3 million broiler chickens in the state. The state eventually had to euthanize the chickens, and some Republican lawmakers have since expressed a “deep concern” for the USDA’s oversight of these programs. 

Vilsack said the Pure Prairie Poultry plant was one of over 400 projects and $1.4 billion invested to expand processing capacity across meat production. 

“You can compare and contrast our portfolio and its performance to any commercial bank in the country … the default rate is very, very low,” Vilsack said. 

He urged the farmers who were affected by the closure to take advantage of the Livestock Indemnity Program, and to make a claim under the Packers and Stockyards act which will create a ranking preference as the bankruptcy assets are liquified. 

Vilsack said there is a need for processing facilities like the Charles City plant that closed and he hopes a buyer can be found to take over the facility. 

“Our goal is to hopefully get the thing reopened, and everybody, frankly, everybody should be working towards that,” Vilsack said. He noted a buyer would also help in determining the potential losses.

Testing for Bird Flu

USDA announced Wednesday it would begin testing bulk raw milk for avian flu in a national effort to slow the spread of the bird flu. 

The Secretary of Agriculture said the increasing number of herds impacted in states like California, plus the discovery of an infected hog in Oregon on Wednesday, prompted the department to implement a system of greater biosecurity. 

“Let’s make sure everybody understands, the milk is safe, the beef is safe, the pork is safe,” Vilsack said Thursday. “There’s no issue relative to the food supply.”

USDA launched a similar, voluntary pilot program to bulk test milk tanks on dairies in June, and in July, the state of Colorado mandated weekly bulk dairy tank testing. 

“The success in Colorado led us to believe that it would be appropriate to take a look at developing a broader surveillance effort,” Vilsack said. 

The new program will start in November, testing milk silos at processors in states that have reported outbreaks. Vilsack said the virus can show up in the milk before an animal shows any symptoms of the flu. 

“So, testing will give us an opportunity to get, maybe, ahead if you will,” Vilsack said. 

Vilsack said this will help to inform the department of the most affected areas that need increased biosecurity. The testing protocol will eventually expand to all 50 states. 

Iowa has had a total of 13 herds affected, according to USDA, and a total of 14 states have confirmed cases in dairy herds.

Vilsack said on Thursday that the start of migratory bird season could also cause the spread of the virus.

Vilsack said the case in Oregon where a backyard pig was infected with the virus is significant, but is “not related to the dairy situation.” He said there is nothing extra that pork producers in Iowa should do because of this discovery. 

“Pork producers deal with a variety of viruses on an ongoing basis, they’re very familiar with it,” Vilsack said. 

Vilsack said he was headed up to Ames later in the day to learn about the progress of developing a vaccine for the flu at Iowa State University. 

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