Many Fukushima cattle farmers are about to go out of business, thanks to highly contaminated plants.  After highly radioactive beef was found, and sold, in eight prefectures, it was discovered that all the plants in Fukushima Prefecture are contaminated with high levels of cesium.

Local and national government officials have found that at least eight  prefectures got the contaminated beef, and it was sold to consumers.  Officials are sure that most of the beef sold to consumers was eaten.

When tracing the source of cesium contamination, officials discovered that the contaminated cows were eating hay grown out in the open in Fukushima Prefecture.  Some hay samples had 75,000 becquerels per kilogram of cesium.  The national government’s safe limit is 500.

Now cattle farmers are being told to stop using locally grown feed.  Many Fukushima farmers say the warning is too little too late.  Most farmers will go out of business because they can’t sell anymore cows.  If fact this whole issue has caused Japanese cattle prices to crash, so cattle farmers all over Japan are being affected.

Farmers in Fukushima say local and national officials never gave any warnings to cattle farmers.  Not even any advice on how they should operate with the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor nearby.

Most officials were concerned mainly with the affects of the nuclear disaster on people, and crops grown for human consumption.  It’s now obvious that the safety of crops grown for farm animals were ignored.

Up ’till now cattle were tested only for external radiation, but the contaminated beef came from cows that were internally contaminated, by the locally grown feed, showing no signs of external radiation contamination.

Officials also tested local water sources, but so far have not released the results.