Cattle in Clinch County poisoned by insecticide

Tests conducted by the Georgia Department of Agriculture have revealed that the 35 cattle that died recently on a Clinch County farm died from consuming an insecticide.

“We conducted tests on three of the dead cattle and found aldicarb in their rumen,” said Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin.

Aldicarb is sold under the brand name Temik.  It is an insecticide used on numerous crops. 

“We tested feed from the trough where the cattle had eaten and found aldicarb.  We also did a composite sample of ten unopened bags from the same lot of feed.  This sample did not contain any traces of the insecticide,” said Commissioner Irvin.

“This appears to be an isolated incident.  The GBI will investigate to determine if there was any criminal wrongdoing or if this was just a horrible accident. There was never any danger that any of the poisoned cows would get into the food chain,” said Irvin.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture oversaw the burial of the cows in accordance with the state’s Dead Animal Disposal Act.

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