Days after the state shot down plans for a massive chicken factory in northeast Iowa, the would-be developer has pulled plans for a second big plant in Winneshiek County. Cottonballs Poultry Barns, owned by Sholom Rubashkin (shah-LOAM roo-BASH-kin), the manager of AgriProcessors, the kosher meat packing plant in Postville, submitted plans to build confinement operations in the area. Last week, the D-N-R rejected Cottonballs’ construction permit application for a multi-barn chicken outfit near Castalia (cass-TAY-lee-ah). The company planned to raise 200-thousand chickens at a time there. Cottonballs has now withdrawn plans for another plant near the Bloomfield township. The owners are reportedly looking at building a smaller operation that wouldn’t require an environmental evaluation or a construction permit.
