Kildare farmer questions Department verdict on why 22 of his young heifers died

A dairy farmer from Carbury is questioning the findings of a Department of Agriculture investigation into what caused the death of 22 of his cattle last September.

Larry Martin, from Drehid in Carbury, lost 22 of his replacement heifers to what the Department of Agriculture determined as rumen fluke larvae, though the farmer himself is far from convinced. Rumen fluke is a condition where parasites attack the inner lining of the animal's stomach and the small intestine, and high enough numbers can cause the death of a cow.

Mr Martin said that the presence of rumen fluke found in some of the heifers was light, though there were some that varied to heavy.

He carried tests out on the soil of his land and the drinking water to see if there were any toxins presence in either, but the results showed nothing untoward. What he did find however is that one of the buckets of mineral lick he gave to his young heifers was different to others in terms of the magnesium levels, phosphorous levels and the amount calcium, cobalt, copper, manganese, zinc and selenium present in the buckets was different to what the labels suggested.

“The mineral licks went out on a Monday. The 31 cattle were sick by Friday, 11 of them dead. The other 11 died over the following week,” he told the Irish Famers Journal.

“The mineral levels were wrong, they were not mixed properly,” he continued. “I’m not blaming the licks for killing the heifers because I don’t know what killed them. But farmers spend millions each year on minerals in feeds and licks. Are they being sold a short straw?”

Scientists from UCD have advised Mr Martin to have tissue samples from the dead animals tested for mercury levels, though it will cost him €120 to test each of the 14 samples he has collected. After paying for numerous tests out of his own pocket already, the dairy farmer says he is likely to leave such tests until the summer.