In the News - February 2008
Arkansas ranchers and poultry producers face huge problems
LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas ranchers and poultry producers who lost animals from
Tuesday's tornado in northcentral Arkansas were left Thursday with a huge
problem - how to dispose of dead animals.
County agents with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service
said it's difficult to determine how many head of cattle were killed, but it's
certain to be at least in the hundreds. Thousands of chickens were killed in
collapsed poultry houses.
Some cows were picked up and blown to their death, while others were killed
by flying debris, collapsing structures or falling trees. Others have simply
wandered away, says Dr. Tom Troxel, professor and associate head of the
university's Animal Science Department.
Troxel said a serious weather-related problem is the destruction of fences.
The cattle producer's top priority becomes repairing fences and gathering loose
cattle.
Other serious concerns will be clearing a large amount of debris from stock
ponds and pastures. He said a field can be littered with pipe, bits of metal,
nails, lumber, splintered logs and other trash that can injure cows ingesting
it.
"It's especially critical in hay meadows," he said. "Ranchers
typically bale hay in the spring, and if they don't get the trash picked
up, it'll end up in hay bales."
Fortunately, he said, the grass is dormant and short so trash will be easier
to spot and pick up.
Troxel noted that some producers have lost barns and hay bales. He said it's
getting near the end of hay feeding season, so supplies were already getting
short.
How do ranchers deal with disposing of dead animals in the field?
Troxel didn't know of any rendering companies that could pick up animals. He
said the best option is composting, but in some areas of the state, burial may
be another option.
Dr. Karl VanDevender, an extension engineer, said composting large animals,
under the current Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission regulations, is a
"fairly straight forward and easy process."
He said the producer needs to place an animal on a bed of about 2 feet of
carbon material, such as sawdust or straw, and cover it on the top and sides
with a foot of carbon material.
"Green sawdust is the gold standard but it can't be from a poultry house
where it has been used as litter. It must be free from manure, according to EPA
regulations," he said.
The material below the animal catches fluids and the material on top and
sides is an organic filter to absorb odor.
"If you do it right, you won't smell anything and have minimal problems from
dogs or coyotes. If you do have a problem, you can put an electric fence around
the compost," VanDevender said.
He said the compost pile will reach at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit. A mature
cow can be almost "cooked to almost nothing" in as little as 30 days, he said,
but typically, it takes three to six months.
VanDevender stressed that the compost pile should be in a place that won't
endanger water quality in the area.
"If done properly," he said, "a producer can walk off and leave it without
worrying. After six months, the producer can return and spread the pile on the
pasture."
The extension engineer said there are a few commercial composting operations
in northwest Arkansas that will take dead animals for disposal. He said they
need to have a license to operate in Arkansas and must be licensed to dispose of
carcasses.
"Burial may be a possibility for some producers," VanDevender said. "But as
one dairy producer told me, ‘I don't want to take my best ground and turn it
into a cow graveyard.' And it's expensive to hire someone to come in with a
backhoe and dig a hole."
VanDevender said the Natural Resources Conservation Service is working with
farmers to defray disposal costs.
Open burning is not acceptable under Arkansas Department of Environmental
Quality air regulations.
For more information, ask your county extension agent for a fact sheets
titled Organic Burial Composting of Cattle Mortality (FSA1044). The fact sheet
is also online by going to www.uaex.edu and selecting
Search, then FSA1044. VanDevender said poultry producers should consult the
companies they contract with for the best disposal methods.
The state regulations about animal disposal can be found on the Arkansas
Livestock and Poultry's Web site at
www.arlpc.org. Follow the home page links to their regulations.
For more information about disposal issues, contact your county extension
agent. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of
Agriculture.
February 8, 2008
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialists
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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