Thread: 100 Dairy cows Pb poisioned at Southland clay club

Speaking to a guy who lives a couple of farms away last Friday. Only 10 cows died with a direct link to lead poisoning. Rumours of "insurance" are running rife through the rural grapevine.


The swede deaths are a different evil altogether. It appears to be happening on farms where cockies are grazing cattle on swedes that are well past their prime, something about the leaf has gone to seed, and the chemicals/toxins in the leaf have been translocated into the bulbs.

There's also situations where farmers have been left with significant amounts of winter crop left, so instead of wasting it, have bought some beef cattle from the local sales (typically animals off properties where they've been on baleage/hay/grass) and thrown them straight on the old winter feed to chew it out without "breaking" the cattle in properly. This is making cattle crook, and some are dying.

Cockies grazing fodder beet/sugar beet are not having the same issues.