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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Rancher Says His Herd Was Rustled

KANSAS CITY, MO. (CN) - Merlin Grimes and Golden Belt Feeders refuse to return more than 13,000 head of cattle and wrote unauthorized checks, costing J&L Farms millions of dollars, J&L claims in Federal Court.

J&L owner Donald Garrett says he turned over his herd to Grimes and Golden Belt for fattening, after Grimes assured him that they had the lowest feed costs and the lowest death loss in the area. Garrett says he left blank checks with the defendants, "as is common in the industry, so that plaintiffs could settle the accounts and release the cattle to sale barns."

But Garrett says "Golden Belt and Merlin Grimes wrote and signed checks for unauthorized amounts, without explaining or documenting what the checks were being used for." And, Garrett says, "Golden Belt and Merlin Grimes refused to return more than 13,000 head of cattle, costing the plaintiffs millions of dollars in lost profits and equity in the cattle."

Garrett demands punitive damages. He also sues Grimes Livestock Inc. He is represented by Stephen Gorny of Leawood, Kan.

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