December 9, 1997
A new project to evaluate composting cattle, hogs and sheep carcasses has started at the University of Minnesota's Southern Experiment Station, Waseca.
The poultry industry has used composting successfully for years, and this project will help fine-tune procedures for other animals. In addition to the Waseca research, there are demonstration sites on commercial hog operations. "Hog producers are very disease-conscious," says Roger Walker, a researcher at the Waseca station.
On-farm composting can help prevent spreading disease to other hog units. It's also more aesthetically pleasing to dispose of carcasses promptly. The carcasses are covered with a biological filter, usually either sawdust or poultry litter, that absorbs odors from the decomposing carcasses.
Once composting is complete, a manure spreader is used to spread the product on fields as a fertilizer. "This product is better for the land than partially decomposed bedding in manure," Walker says, since the latter must temporarily "rob" nitrogen from the soil for the decomposition process to work.
Walker says there are two basic approaches to composting animal carcasses: a passive system, which takes about six months; and a more aggressive approach where carcasses are turned every two to three weeks to speed composting. With the more active process, the carcasses become fertilizer in six to eight weeks.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Board of Animal Health is a project sponsor (and has issued a special permit since it's illegal to compost cattle in Minnesota). Other sponsors include the Minnesota Pork Producers' Association and the Agricultural Utilization and Research Institute (AURI).
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NEXP5663
Source: Roger Walker, (507) 835-3422
Writer: Jack Sperbeck, EDS, (612) 625-1794,
jsperbeck@extension.umn.edu
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