A WHOLESALER who supplied animal feed to a farm where more than 100 cows died from a probable outbreak of botulism is set to receive more than £55,000 in compensation after suspect batches of barley and peas were destroyed by the States Vet.
A total of 132 cattle died at Woodlands farm in Jersey in December.
According to a government report, the most likely cause of the incident was clostridium botulinum toxin, which was potentially present in a particular batch of feed supplied to the animals – although it is not clear whether it became contaminated before or after being delivered to Woodlands.
As a precaution, suspect batches of feed both at Woodlands Farm and the farm of its wholesale supplier – which has not been identified – were seized and destroyed.
Under the Island’s animal health legislation, the Environment Minister may pay compensation to the owner of materials seized by the States Vet if a request is received.
The owner of the wholesale supplier of feed exercised his right to request compensation, totalling £56,672 for around 126 tonnes of barley and 48 tonnes of peas. According to a ministerial decision that was recently made public, Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf decided to approve the request on 14 April.
A report explaining the decision also noted that the owner of Woodlands Farm had not made a request for compensation.
However, the minister decided that Woodlands Farm would be entitled to £1,200 for 3,750kgs of destroyed barley, and directed officers to ‘prepare to pay compensation to the farmer who is yet to claim’.
Last week, it was revealed that King Charles III had ‘re-gifted’ a group of seven heifers that were originally selected as a Platinum Jubilee present for Queen Elizabeth II to help Woodlands Farm in St Helier recover from its ‘devastating’ loss.
‘We have been very struck that this wasn’t a matter of the King signing a form that was put in front of him; he was aware of what had happened here in December and has shown great interest – this is a personal gift from the monarchy and a phenomenal gesture to Woodlands Farm and to the Island herd,’ said dairy farmer Andrew Le Gallais, a former chair of the Jersey Milk Marketing Board.
