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Livestock Mortality Composting Workshop set
for March 15 in Burkettsville
By Justin Petrosino, ANR Extension Educator
OSU Extension, Darke County
For any farmer raising livestock, it is inevitable that an animal will
be lost to circumstances outside of the farmer’s control. Disease, old
age, and, if animals aren’t housed, predators can take livestock. When
an animal loses its life in these ways and others the animal can’t be
utilized safely for human consumption or animal. The farmer is left
with a decision to make on how to properly dispose of the animal
carcass. For biosecurity reasons these animals can’t simply be buried
like a pet. There are typically two choices for a farmer to make. One
is to send the carcass to a rendering plant where it will be processed,
possibly like you may have seen on an episode of the Discovery Channel
show “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe”. However, the number of
rendering plants is quickly declining.
Another option for the farmer is to compost the animal on the farm. On
farm composting is a safe and economical way for farmers to deal with
carcasses. Much like composting leaves and yard clippings animals are
composted with an amendment. During processing the animal carcass is
broken down by microbes which produce a tremendous amount of heat.
Properly maintained compost piles can reach internal temperatures of
over 140 F which sterilizes the compost. The initial or primary stage
of composting can take as little as ten days. Once the compost pile has
cooled to 110 F it is typically turned and enters a secondary cycle.
The compost reheats to 140 F and upon cooling is cured for another
thirty days. The finished compost is sterile, safe and resembles
compost that is a product of plant material. The compost is either
spread as fertilizer for field crops or used as an amendment for
further composting.
To make sure the process is completed correctly and in an
environmentally friendly manner composters are required to maintain a
livestock mortality composting certification. The program began in 1996
with input from many Ohio organizations including Ohio State University
Extension, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and
others. The organizations put together a livestock mortality composting
manual and certification training program.
In response to farmers needing to take the certification course but
being unable to attend the March 7 and 8 trainings, OSU Extension Darke
and Mercer Counties will be hosting a certification training program
starting March 15 at 7pm. The training will be at the Burkettsville
Fire Department in Burkettsville, Ohio. For registration and to pay the
$10 registration fee please contact the Darke or Mercer County
Extension Offices at (937) 548-5215 or (419) 586-2179 before Friday,
March 11.
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