UPDATE: Iowa requests court ruling on ability to sell abandoned livestock
(ABC 6 News) – UPDATE: In a Zoom hearing Monday, Feb. 24, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship requested Sioux County Judge Steve Andreasen’s opinion on the “clean title” sale of abandoned livestock.
In September of last year, Pure Prairie Poultry filed for bankruptcy and declared that they could not feed any of their 1.3 million Iowa chickens — to say nothing of the poultry kept in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The State of Iowa spent $2.3 million to feed house, and euthanize the chickens after attempts to sell the birds failed. IDALS cited creditors’ arguments that the state could not sell the chickens with a “clean title.”
RELATED: IDALS files final report on Pure Prairie Poultry – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
If the state couldn’t sell the birds with a clean title, anyone with a stake in profits from the birds could have argued that they were owed some of the profit a buyer would make off the chicken’s carcasses — which “scuttled” multiple sales.
Andreasen said Monday that he was “hesitant” to set a precedent for Iowa livestock sales in Pure Prairie Poultry’s case.
Jacob Larson, representing IDALS, argued that the State must know if they can sell livestock that’s been abandoned to their care so they can immediately offload animals in other states, like Minnesota and Wisconsin.
RELATED: Growers for Pure Prairie Poultry say their chickens are starving – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
Businesses that raised Pure Prairie Poultry’s chickens outside of Iowa reported that the birds were starving and cannibalizing each other after the owners stopped sending money for feed.
Andreasen took IDALS’ report, wherein they requested $2.3 million from Pure Prairie Poultry to recoup costs, under consideration.
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(ABC 6 News) – In January, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship filed its final report on Pure Prairie Poultry, concluding that the state had spent $2.3 million to feed, house, and eventually chemically euthanize the 1.3 million chickens the poultry manufacturer had abandoned in late September.
RELATED: IDALS files final report on Pure Prairie Poultry – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
IDALS requested that Iowa court order anyone with ownership interest in the livestock repay IDALS, based on their percent interest in the euthanized chickens.
Attorney General Brenna Bird cited Pure Prairie’s failure to feed the chickens, as well as creditors who flexed their partial ownership of the birds and “scuttled” any chance of selling them to other producers, which wasted the carcasses and stopped the state from recouping any costs.
Sioux County court records did not state which creditors specifically indicated they would try to claim proceeds from any chickens that were sold and processed by another manufacturer.
However, several creditors appeared in the Sioux County court hearings: Rock Hill Genetics, First Cooperative Association (AgState), Premier Cooperative, and Hull Cooperative Association.
Creditors respond to IDALS report
First Cooperative Association (AgState), Premier Cooperative, Hull Cooperative Association, and Centra Sota Cooperative objected to IDALS’ report in a motion filed Feb. 7.
Each of the co-ops provided grain, feed, and/or nutritional supplements to farms that raised Pure Prairie Poultry’s chickens, according to court documents.
RELATED: Growers for Pure Prairie Poultry say their chickens are starving – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
In specific, the co-ops “respectfully disagree” with IDALS’ report stating that various creditors impeded attempts to sell the birds.
“Specifically, referencing one particular transaction that was explored as a solution, IDALS asserts that it had a potential sale price of $0.50 per bird, for poultry that otherwise sells for more than $5.00 per pound. In so doing, IDALS omits at least three things: (a) the Buyer would have received a windfall of thousands of dollars, (b) to offset that windfall, the Buyer was asked to donate a portion of its proceeds to the community and declined to do so, and (c) that the growers and feed suppliers would have to waive all recovery of their thousands of advanced work and expenses invested into these birds.”
The filing also alleges that IDALS could have operated Pure Prairie Poultry’s Charles City plant to process the birds, then sell or donate the meat to food pantries, rather than attempt to sell the birds to another manufacturer.
The filing does not indicate whether creditors would have claimed a portion of sale proceeds if the State of Iowa had indeed slaughtered and processed the birds.
The co-ops also questioned whether IDALS and Brenna Bird’s suggestion that “defendants with any ownership interest” in the birds repay the State included anyone other than Pure Prairie Poultry.
“It remains unclear whether IDALS seeks payment from parties other than the Defendant, Pure Prairie Poultry, or whether IDALS has identified unknown and unnoticed parties from which it will seek repayment,” the filing reads. “If IDALS seeks a court order directing creditors of the Defendant to reimburse it due to their liens and security interests in the poultry, such a view reflects
a fundamental misunderstanding of the law and seeks relief not permitted by Chapter 717.”
Iowa’s Chapter 717, which concerns cruelty to livestock, does state that if multiple people have “divisible ownership” of livestock, the amount repaid to the state should be “prorated based on the percentage of interest in the livestock owned by each person.”
The chapter also states that those proceeds should be subtracted from the sales of livestock as ordered by Iowa court.
Pure Prairie Poultry’s chickens were euthanized, not sold.
“Movants object to the Final Notice to the extent the Final Notice seeks payment or reimbursement from those holding a security interest in Defendant’s poultry,” the filing reads.