Australian cattle exported to Sri Lanka under EFIC project dying and malnourished

(ABC, Sydney, 4 April 2019) Hundreds of Australian and New Zealand cattle have died in a Federal Government-backed export deal with Sri Lanka, which local farmers say has left them broke, and in some cases, suicidal. Farmers and animal rights groups, as well as Sri Lanka's own auditor-general, want the export project stopped because they say it is poorly planned and inhumane. Angry Sri Lankan farmers have told the ABC the "high-yielding, pregnant dairy cows" they were promised were overpriced, unhealthy and infertile. Sri Lankan business consultant Mohammed Mausook Riyal, adding that the cows were the wrong breed for the climate, making them susceptible to disease, and farmers could not make a profit because of poor milk yield and low conception rates. Under the terms of the $100 million project, underwritten by the Australian Government's export credit agency, EFIC, the exporter, Wellard, was required to provide Sri Lankan farmers with facilities, training and veterinary support.