The illness that killed 112 cows on a dairy farm in St. Helier is still being looked into in a BIG way.
More than three-quarters of the 137 Jersey cows at Woodlands Farm on Rue de Maupertuis died after the accident, which sent shock waves through the Island’s farming community.
At first, contaminated feed was thought to be the cause, but Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf said that the investigation would need to look at other things as well.
He said, “It seems like cattle on other farms have had the same feed without any problems, so we’ll have to find out if there are other factors that only affect this group.”
All of the affected cattle at Woodlands were from the high-yielding “group A” herd. The farm also has a separate herd of about 100 cattle called “group B,” which has not been affected.
Deputy Renouf said he had been told that 25 of the affected cattle have survived so far, and it was hoped that the number of deaths would not go up any more.
He said, “I’m glad to hear that no milk from the affected sub-herd has gone into the food chain and that every precaution has been taken to protect human and animal health.”
Samples of some of the dead cattle and the food they ate have been flown to laboratories in the UK.
Deputy Renouf said that because it is a specialised job, analysing samples could take about a week.
Eamon Fenlon, the managing director of Jersey Dairy, said the event was a very big deal. He estimated that there were about 2,250 milking cows on Island farms before it happened.
Picture of Woodlands Farm by JON GUEGAN (34899107)
He also said that he was sure the problem had been stopped.
As a safety measure, 33,000 litres of milk from all over the Island, including some from Woodlands, will be thrown away on Friday.
Mr. Fenlon said there was no danger to milk supplies because only about 60% of the milk made was sold locally.
The rest of the milk is used to make export products and soft-scoop ice cream for sales in 2023. If necessary, he said, this production could be temporarily cut back.
Philip Le Maistre, the head of the Milk Marketing Board, said he would keep working with the Le Boutillier family, who have run Woodlands Farm for five generations.
He said, “It’s been a scary time for them, and I think it will take them a while to get over it.”
Mr. Le Maistre said that he had worked in the dairy business for 40 years and had never seen anything like this before.
He said that he hoped the investigation would give some answers.
He said, “Everyone wants to find out what happened, and a lot of people are working hard on the investigation.”
“It will take time, so for now we just have to wait to see what happens, and then we’ll see if anything else needs to be done.”
Staff from a number of government agencies have been involved, including the animal carcass incinerator, which was needed to get rid of the dead cattle.
The JEP thinks that the incinerator can handle about 75 animals per week and has enough cold storage space for the cattle that have been collected.
Jersey Dairy said in a statement, “Everyone at Jersey Dairy is devastated by what happened at Woodlands Farm, and our thoughts are with the Le Boutillier family and all of their team at this very sad time.”
“We can’t even begin to imagine how hard this must be for Charlie Le Boutillier, his family, and everyone at Woodlands. Our hearts hurt for them, and we can’t even imagine how shocked they must be.”
