The U.S. Department of Agriculture has refused to pay claims filed by two Idaho families who contend its pesticide treatment contaminated their crops and poisoned a cattle herd.
Instead, USDA told the families to file a lawsuit – a costly endeavor that could bankrupt the farms and risk the $70 million potato pest eradication program in Idaho.
The Eldredge-Kelley fields were treated with methyl bromide between 2013 and 2014, according to information provided to the state Department of Agriculture. Over the next two years, cows on the farm experienced lesions and swelling from excess fluid after being fed hay grown on fields treated with methyl bromide.
Cows frequently aborted their calves or had stillbirths, while calves that were born alive struggled to nurse, stand and even breathe.
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