Cattlegate: Documentary Cattlegate is a documentary film about the Michigan PBB disaster; the accidental introduction of a highly toxic flame-retardent chemical, into the Michigan cattle feed supply in 1973. Cows that were exposed to the feed suffered horrible genetic mutations, necessitating the deliberate extermination of entire herds. This film, one of the few to cover the event from inside the U.S., documents the farmers who's lives were destroyed by the aftermath, and the unconscionable decisions that were made to allow the contaminated beef and dairy products to continue being distributed to consumers for 9 months after the problem became known.

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Director Jeff Jackson grew up in Michigan, not far from he epicenter of the PBB disaster. Though he was out of state attending school when the tragic PBB poisoning took place, he received first-hand accounts from his father, Dr. T.F. Jackson who was a well-regarded farm veterinarian for the area. It was the director's father, Dr. Jackson, who first correctly diagnosed the source of the cattle poisoning. Mainstream news sources outside of the United States began covering the Michigan PBB event in depth before anyone in the states would touch it. A book by Joyce Eggington titled, "The Poisoning of Michigan", as well as a highly-regarded BBC documentary by the same title, covered the story and it's aftermath in Britain while the media blackout continued in America.