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Deaths of at least 80 cows in last decade linked to spreading of poultry manure

Cross-border investigation reveals concerns over regulation of the trade in poultry litter, an increasingly important natural fertiliser used on crops and vegetables.

FACTORY FARM Investigation The deaths of at least 80 cows in the last decade have been linked to disease from the landspreading of poultry manure on Irish farms Cases linked to botulism from a toxin that impacts the nervous system and can lead to paralysis and death 16 farms inspected from 2011-2021 due to concerns over potential breaches of poultry litter use guidelines   Agriculture Department: Difficult to identify origin of poultry litter as farms receive from multiple sources

AT LEAST 80 cattle have died from botulism linked to the landspreading of poultry litter as a natural fertiliser on nearby farms, records released to Noteworthy reveal. 

As part of our FACTORY FARM investigation in collaboration with The Detail and The Guardian into the poultry industry on the island of Ireland, we analysed the potential disease impact from poultry litter as the industry continues to expand.

Poultry manure is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, & potassium and can act as a powerful fertiliser, used for compost in the mushroom industry and landspreading on tillage and vegetable farms to encourage crop growth. 

However, there is a downside to the production of such quantities of litter that, if poorly managed, can cause environmental impacts and human health risks, such as water, air and soil pollution, spread of antimicrobial residues and pathogens such as botulism.

Botulism is caused by a bacteria which produces a toxin that, if eaten or breathed, impacts the nervous system and can lead to paralysis and death. It is known to be fatal within hours when ingested by an animal.

Poultry litter can contain decaying organic material, including the bodies or parts of deceased chicken, that can produce these toxins then ingested by cattle or inhaled while breathing.

There are strict guidelines in place for the handling and use of poultry litter to ensure that it is spread without delay and, where it is being stored for a short time prior to landspreading, strict control measures are required. This is not always the case in practice, however.

A large number of white chickens standing on the floor of a farm shed near feeders Poultry inside a shed Photoarte / Shutterstock Photoarte / Shutterstock / Shutterstock

80 cows dead from botulism

According to data released to our team by the Department of Agriculture (DAFM), 16 farms were inspected between 2011 and 2021 due to concerns over potential breaches of the codes of good practice for poultry litter. 

Breaches were identified during seven of the inspections, including one case as recently as 2021. A total of 80 cows died or were euthanised in the cases, 61 of which were dairy cows. 

Botulism linked to the landspreading of poultry litter on nearby farms was identified as the cause in each case. In one case, three cattle were euthanised or died on a farm where there were also poultry present and the litter came from the farm itself. 

In another case from 2019 in Cork, litter was removed from poultry houses and piled in the tillage field about 500 metres from the grazing ground. In the most impactful case identified in the DAFM records, 19 dairy cows died across two farms in Cork in 2010. 

In a more recent case from 2018 in Wexford, 12 dairy cows died, while 10 dairy cows died from a case in Louth in 2020. The litter came from a farm in Monaghan. An inspection was carried out at the poultry facility but no non-compliances were uncovered. 

“Some 30 poultry farms are visited each year on a random basis for specific animal by-product controls,” the Department said. There are currently around 350 poultry farms in Ireland. 

A large number of black and white cows standing in a field on a cloudy day Dawid K Photography / Shutterstock Dawid K Photography / Shutterstock / Shutterstock

Origin of the litter

The origin of the poultry litter was only confirmed in one other case, coming from a poultry farm in Mayo that has the heaviest concentration of farms outside of the border region and Limerick. 

In a statement, the Department said that it can be difficult to identify the farm of origin as tillage farmers typically receive litter from multiple sources, with deliveries often directly to fields.

This is seen in a botulism case from 2018 in which seven dairy cows died in Kilkenny after poultry litter was spread on a neighbouring farm. The inspection report stated the farm where the litter originated from should be inspected “to establish if proper procedures are being adhered to”. 

When asked if this inspection took place, DAFM told Noteworthy that, as there were a number of litter deliveries from several poultry farms, “the definitive farm of origin could not be identified”. 

In part one of this investigation, we revealed that there are serious concerns over the regulation of the poultry litter trade on the island of Ireland.

Records released to our investigative team reveal major concerns from local authorities with the highest concentrations of poultry farms that there is poor monitoring and enforcement to verify where poultry litter is going and how it is being spread.

 chicken looking towards camera with others in the background in a farm shed - with logos of investigation collaborators Noteworthy, The Guardian, The Detail and co-funder JournalismFund.eu

This investigation was written by Niall Sargent of Noteworthy. It was proposed and co-funded by you, our readers. This article was developed with the support of Journalismfund.eu as part of a cross-border project with Rory WintersLuke Butterly and Tommy Greene for The Detail and Ella McSweeney for The Guardian

Noteworthy is the investigative journalism platform from The Journal. You can support our work by helping to fund one of our other investigation proposals or submitting an idea for a story. Click here to find out more >>

We also have a number of farming, climate and biodiversity-themed investigation proposals which you can view here.  

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    Mute Andrew Martin
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:01 AM

    “Alright, good night” would be fairly standard crew speak when being handed off from one ATC frequency to another. Yet again this is another fine example of media hype suggesting routine ATC/flight deck crew procedure to be something more sinister…

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    Mute Dave Byrne
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    Mar 12th 2014, 10:02 AM

    Spot on there Andrew regarding the media hype,A good few years ago there was a charter airline that had some tech issues inflight.
    They made an uneventful landing yet the red top brigade had published a story that the crew could not speak English,My mother asked me about this and if it was true as I worked in aviation,I said no as English is the official language in aviation no matter what country you flly to.

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    Mute Winston Teardrops
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    Mar 12th 2014, 12:15 PM

    Sure don’t you know – we have ‘great white’ sharks washing up on Irish shores now. Circulation and site hits will not be halted by mere truth or rationality.

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    Mute Cian Maher
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    Mar 12th 2014, 8:44 AM

    It’s an aeroplane not a set of car keys… How can it be lost?

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    Mute Genius
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    Mar 12th 2014, 7:47 AM

    Nothing unusual about that when changing controllers,The hypoxia theory may hold the answers but there would have been major alerts in the cockpit.

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    Mute Bill
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    Mar 12th 2014, 7:47 AM

    Greek charter airline Helios B737 crew suffered oxygen starvation and both rendered unconscious due to incorrect selection on cockpit overhead panel aircraft aircraft continued flight until it ran out of fuel and struck hill is it possible something similar occurred here,

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Mar 12th 2014, 11:16 AM

    The theory is not as the aircraft would have impacted at one spot, it would have also been visible decanting, if it impacted at one spot there would be a debris field. The absence of such indicates a high altitude catastrophic breakup, something not caused by oxygen starvation

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    Mute ipsum oleum
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    Mar 12th 2014, 10:51 AM

    I heard that it landed At Knock following rumours of a 6th Garth Brooks concert to beheld in Swinford.

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    Mute Patrick Linehan
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    Mar 12th 2014, 8:04 AM

    In 2003 a Boeing727 was ‘stolen’ on the tarmac in Angola. It has never been seen since. Intelligence experts believe it was taken to Mogadishu where it was going to be loaded with high explosive and used as a flying bomb. Rumors persist that a countries special forces located and destroyed the aircraft.
    Intelligence people are again looking at this scenario as a possible reason for the disappearance of the Malaysian aircraft.
    Whatever happened, its currently a mystery and tragedy for the families.

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    Mute James St John Smith
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    Mar 12th 2014, 8:45 AM

    There there. These men with the medication are going to look after you.

    41
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    Mute Patrick Linehan
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:01 AM

    Try googling it dipshit.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:15 AM

    Patrick, are you suggesting that someone stole this plane from the sky? Please elaborate?

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    Mute Andrew Martin
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:20 AM

    May I elaborate on behalf of Patrick? The key word in Patrick’s post is ‘tarmac’. If you ever find tarmac in the sky seek medical attention immediately…

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    Mute Patrick Linehan
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:56 AM

    No emergency broadcast, no wreckage, no eyewitness of explosions or a plane falling from the sky. No wreckage. All electronic signals suddenly ceasing, radar not picking up anything. From my limited knowledge the only way this could happen is for the transponder to be manually turned off in the cockpit, also for all the other signals to disappear, again they would have to be turned off or jammed. As for radar, it is possible to fly below or above it. Unless the aircraft or debris is located soon, the viable explanation would be hijacking, there’s plenty of small islands in the Indian ocean, I believe one of the 777′s selling points is its ability to take off & land on a short runway. if hijacking is the case then you have to wonder what is the motivation, do they want the passengers for profit, or do they want the aircraft? unless you want to go with the alien theory.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Mar 12th 2014, 10:15 AM

    Patrick, “from my limited knowledge” that explains it for me.
    So somewhere out there is a small island with a small runway and “they” land this plane on it without anyone seeing it land because on this island there are no people even though someone built a runway on it????
    What are you smoking?

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    Mute Patrick Linehan
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    Mar 12th 2014, 10:25 AM

    So what’s your explanation Declan?

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    Mute Ancient History
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    Mar 12th 2014, 10:37 AM

    Pat
    Was listening to an aviation expert on the George Hook show. He was as mystified as anyone. He said the black box on those aircraft will release from the aircraft if it enters the water and begin transmitting. He mentioned that it didn’t happen on the air France flight that disappeared but thought it was unlikely the same malfunction could happen again.

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    Mute Matteen Beag
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    Mar 12th 2014, 2:39 PM

    http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-09-26/html/2013-23456.htm

    My best guess, is the above Airworthiness Directive relating to the trip 7.

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    Mute Loop De Loop
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    Mar 12th 2014, 2:41 PM

    Both black boxes will transmit a signal when immersed in water, but you still need to be pretty close to them to pick it up, especially if the boxes are in deep water.

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Mar 12th 2014, 3:42 PM

    That’s very interesting about cockpit crew being able to switch off the transponder, Pat. Does that mean, then, that the aircraft is undetectable if they also maintain radio silence? Maybe in the case of the black box lightning does strike twice. It’s horrible for the families and friends of those on board.

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    Mute Dave Byrne
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:12 AM

    It is normal to ssy good night/good bye while changing ATC frequency,As for the aircraft loosing cabin pressure the flight crew would have put on their face mask, And decend to 10000 feet as per normal SOP also the flight crews oxygen supply is separate from the passengers air supply.
    With ACARS equipped on a aircraft it means that the airlines control center ops/maintenance people etc,Can contact the aircraft via a computer and the message prints off like a till receipt on the center control panel.

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    Mute John Thomas
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    Mar 12th 2014, 1:30 PM

    Am I the only one thinking aliens here? Surprised it hasn’t even been suggested in jest.

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    Mute TIPM (Mick Rooney)
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    Mar 12th 2014, 2:20 PM

    Yes, you are the only one!

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    Mute Sean
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:20 AM
    20
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    Mute TIPM (Mick Rooney)
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    Mar 12th 2014, 11:26 AM

    Be interesting to know if there is any maintanance record of a doubler plate being fitted in the area around the SATCOM box. It had a last service check in February. The Boeing alert from November was raised by a journalist this morning at the press conference and Malaysia Aviation simply replied that the airline got the alert from Boeing and maintainance procedures were followed. I’d be pretty sure NTSB is scouring those records now. Would explain a little – potential structural rupture leading to slow decompression – and the loss of comms and in-the-air transponder signal loss. But it still suggests you should have a signal from the black boxes once down in the water.

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    Mute Genius
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    Mar 12th 2014, 7:11 PM
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    Mute Ian Carty
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:39 AM

    Almost a week now and still no sign. They can find stars billions of miles away with technology and we have GPS and flight apps and they cant find it. Disgrace.

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Mar 12th 2014, 11:25 AM

    Hardly a valid comparison between celestial objects that have been visible for millennia or are detectable by their extremely large size and gravitational effect and a Boeing 777. If they start using a celestial telescope to search for the aircraft they are in big trouble

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    Mute emily denner
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    Mar 12th 2014, 9:57 PM

    They can track an iphone. They can track a shark. They can even track keys but they cant track a plane with 239 people on it. The government is keeping alot of information private. Maybe too much. People are commenting here arguments when people are overseas crying at airports waiting for loved ones. Disrespect.

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    Mute Edward Cullen
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    Mar 12th 2014, 2:40 PM

    The plane had 7.5 hours of fuel on board when it went missing. What I think happened was that it was hijacked and flown into Russia or some island and the passengers were either shot or told not to say anything. Like a big plane just does not go missing.

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