Hundreds of cattle allegedly dead, hundreds more sickened at Minnesota feedlot
PEQUOT LAKES, MINN. – After almost 600 head of his cattle disappeared from a Minnesota feedlot, and hundreds more were sickened, Rocky Olsen, co-owner of Premier Livestock Auctions in Withee, WI., took a road trip…to Spraus Cattle Company.
Last fall, the Spraus’ had alerted Olsen to a virus moving through herds. In January, Olsen drove to Pequot Lakes to see his cattle. That’s when the couple told him 598 of his cattle had died of disease, according to a lawsuit filed April 15, 2025 in Minnesota. And that another 800 were in poor health.
Olsen sued David and Angela Sprau, owners of the central Minnesota feedlot, asking for $4.1 million under the state’s “cattle rustling” law that allows for the tripling of damages.
The attorney for the Spraus’ said Olsen’s suit is filled with “knowingly false statements.” Greg Arneson says the allegations are being made to create a scandal where none exists.”
A fourth-generation cattleman, Olsen says that he began sending cattle to the Pequot Lakes, Minn., feedlot to finish them. By August 2024, reports on the animal’s progress stopped, according to the complaint.
While being told the cattle died from a virus, the complaint against the Spraus’ states, “Other owners who placed cattle with the Spraus’ have reported that they did not have any out-of-the-ordinary deaths in the same time-frame,” claims the federal lawsuit.
According to court filings, Olsen’s cattle were in good health and properly vaccinated upon delivery to Spraus Cattle Company.
Among the charges, including negligence and violation of the federal Packers and Stockyards Act, Olsen also has accused the couple of cattle rustling.
Olsen’s attorney, Kyle Kroll, said in a statement that Olsen “now faces a significant loss of his life’s savings” because of the loss of the cattle.
