Opinion ID: 2038747
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Oraskovich

Text: Oraskovich has a master's degree in education with an emphasis in dairy management and nutrition from the University of Minnesota. He is employed as an extension educator at the University of Minnesota, where he is responsible for the development of educational programs and working one-on-one with individual dairy producers and the agribusiness community. He is not a veterinarian. Like White, Oraskovich did not become involved in the litigation until after Schafersman I and thus never had the opportunity to personally examine or conduct tests on the cows that ate the contaminated oats. In forming his opinion, he reviewed literature addressing mineral toxicity and the trial testimony. Based on his professional experience, Oraskovich believes Wass employed reliable techniques in determining that the contaminated oats had caused the cows to become ill. Oraskovich agreed with Wass that the aggregation of minerals in the oats at above-normal levels could have caused the cows to become ill, although he was hesitant to label the theory multiple mineral toxicity. He also agreed with Wass' revised theory that the amount of copper in the oats was sufficient to cause some of the cows' symptoms. To support this contention, he points to a chapter in a textbook on minerals, which cites recent research showing that copper toxicity can result when cows receive copper in their diet at a level of 40 ppm.