POSTVILLE -- Agriprocessors has temporarily suspended all production at its Postville plant as officials try to work out agreements to keep the company afloat as it passes through bankruptcy.

Chaim Abrahams, who is a company spokesman and a manager at the kosher facility, said they hope to resume production Tuesday, but it's not clear if that will be possible.

Company executives were in New York for a bankruptcy hearing Monday trying to head off a cash freeze, and a bankruptcy judge appointed a Chapter 11 trustee to oversee .

The plant was the site of an immigration raid in May in which nearly 400 workers were arrested. It stopped processing cattle a few weeks ago but continued to process chickens until last week.

The company has struggled to survive since the raid. It filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, and its former chief executive, Sholom Rubashkin, is in jail on federal bank fraud charges.

On Friday Agriprocesssors asked the court for permission to use cash collateral to pay expenses saying a cash freeze would irreparable harm to other creditors and leave the company no choice but to shut down.

Company officials argued in bankruptcy court documents that they need to pay $2.199 million worth of emergency expenses before a scheduled Nov. 25 hearing. The costs included payroll for part of November, insurance, trucking and feed.

The company noted it is still responsible for some 815,000 live chickens that need to be fed pending slaughter.

One of the company's lenders, First Bank, had fought the request and wanted to keep Agriprocessors from spending money until it pays its debts, but the two sides reached an agreement Monday, according to The Des Moines Register.

With news coming out of Postville that Agriprocessors had stopped production, at least for the time being, Palauan workers from the plant who had found shelter in Decorah, were trying to figure out what to do next.

A group of Palauan men eating breakfast provided by the Tri-County Red Cross at the Decorah Covenant Church Monday morning said they'd like to find work in the area.

When they failed to receive their paychecks from Agriprocessors Friday, and the utilities were shut off to their apartments, about 20 Palauans were bused to Jewels Skate Country in Decorah where they spent the night.

"They didn't have any place to go," said skating rink owner Don Jewel, who donated the use of his building. Luther College provided the 20 mattresses the Palauans slept on.

The Palauans were moved Saturday to Covenant Church in Decorah, which has served as a type of "jumping off" point, where transportation arrangements are being made for some who want to go to other parts of the country where they have family or want to return home.

After federal agents arrested more than 300 workers at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville in May, company officials recruited Palauans, who can enter and work in the U.S. without visas.

Social workers, assisted by Luther student volunteers provided through campus ministries, are interviewing the Palauans to find out their individual information and determine what they want to do.

The Associated Press and Courier correspondent Sarah Strandberg contributed to this report.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or Jeff.Reinitz@wcfcourier.com