Amount of Animal Mortalities
Amount of Animal Mortalities
Amount of Animal Mortalities
Disease (Biosecurity)
Nutrient and microbial pollution of water resources
Odors
Aesthetic quality
Gives a poor appearance of an operation
Disposal methods
Rendering
Animals are picked up, hauled to rendering plant, and treated
with heat and steam to produce tankage
Can be used as animal feed
Advantages
Disadvantages
Feeds charged for pick up, if available
Limitations of the use of rendered byproducts as animal feeds
Fears of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or
Scrapies being transferred
Ruminant byproducts cant be fed to ruminant animals
Products have variable quality
Dead animals must be stored until pick up
Rendering will have inadequate capacity in case of catastrophic
mortalities
Disadvantages
Requires preservation
Freezing
Fermentation
Treatment with phosphoric acid
Requires transportation to processing plant
Requires access to processing plant
Composting
Done in structures, windrows or piles
Needs a hard surface to prevent contamination of groundwater
Rate
After 2 months, 90% of the tissue from a dairy cow was decomposed
After 7 to 10 months, only bones remained
Advantages of composting
Recycles nutrients
Low odor
Environmentally safe
No need to store mortalities
Low long-term costs
May be used to handle catastrophic mortalities
Disadvantages of composting
Burial
Animals placed in pit and covered with soil
Iowa requirements
Depth
No deeper than 6 feet with a minimum of 30 inches of soil cover
Depth must be at least 2 feet above the highest water table
Site
Must not create a public health hazard
Soil must have moderate to slow permeability
No permeable soils or fractured bedrock
No poorly drained soils
Must be no evidence of seasonal high water tables
Must be outside the 100 year flood plain
Must be:
100 feet from a private well
200 feet from a public well
50 feet from a property line
500 feet from a residence
100 feet from a stream, lake or pond
Maximum buried/acre/year
44 hogs
7 growing-finishing cattle
73 sheep
400 poultry
Advantages of burial
Capital investment limited to land and excavating equipment
Disadvantages of burial
Incineration
Can be used for small animals
Advantages
Disposes of everything except the ashes
Sanitary, if done properly
Disadvantages
Initial costs
Requires a commercial engineered burner
Home-made burners are illegal
Burner must be in a building downwind from livestock facilities and residences
Fuel costs
Equipment maintenance and operation costs
Potential air quality problems
Requires permit
May cause aerial transmission of infectious agents
Loss of nutrients
Sanitary landfills
Advantages
Simplicity
No capital investment
No maintenance
Disadvantages
Few landfills allow it
Most in Iowa do, but must check
Disposal charges
Transportation costs and regulations