Posted January 6, 2014
A jury recently awarded Oregon dairy farmers, Nancy and Neal Kaste, $750,000 in damages plus attorneys’ fees after feed from Land O’Lakes Purina poisoned 140 of their cows, according to an article by the Oregonian available here.
Land O’Lakes allowed a salesman, who was not trained in animal nutrition to adjust the formula of the feed sold to the Kastes, increasing the amount of copper to “six times the required level and taking out needed phosphorous.”
The Kastes began buying feed from Land O’Lakes in November 2005. Shortly after, their cows began to produce less milk and appeared sick. By the end of November 2007, many of the animals were dying.
Anne Foster, attorney for the plaintiffs, said that while the salesman did not intend to harm the herd, he was not trained as an animal nutritionist and Land O’Lakes did not oversee the formula mixing, as reported by Capital Press here.
Becky Lentz, Land O’Lakes spokeswoman, said that the company will prepare a response.
For more information on food safety, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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