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Australian cattle exported to Sri Lanka dying and malnourished, local farmers left suicidal – Exclusive by Lorna Knowles, ABC Investigations and Siobhan Heanue, South Asia correspondent Source: ABC news PHOTO: Cows on Lammermoor Estate in Sri Lanka were part of the Australian export program. (ABC News: Siobhan Heanue) 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. The scheme was devised to improve the supply of fresh milk in Sri Lanka and reduce the country’s reliance on expensive, imported powdered milk. Angry Sri Lankan farmers have told the ABC the “high-yielding, pregnant dairy cows” they were promised were overpriced, unhealthy and infertile. They said 10 ...