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.
