Risk of Pig Disease Fuels Interest in In-Vessel Composting

CANADA - The sales manager with Nioex Systems says concerns over diseases such as PED and Avian Influenza have fueled a growing interest in the use of in-vessel composting to dispose of deadstock, writes Bruce Cochrane.
calendar icon 12 June 2015
clock icon 3 minute read

The Biovator, an in-vessel composter into which dead animals are placed for composting, is capable of breaking down mortalities in 14 days.

The technology was originally developed by the Puratone Corporation and is currently manufactured in Swan Lake, Manitoba by Nioex Systems and was among the equipment displayed last week in Des Moines, Iowa as part of World Pork Expo 2015.

Greg Esau, the sales manager with Nioex Systems, says recent concerns over the potential spread of disease, particularly Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, has fueled a heightened interest in the technology, especially in the US.

Greg Esau-Nioex Systems:

We have Biovators in Asia, Argentina, a lot in the US, probably 80 per cent in the US.

There's a lot of interest due to the diseases of PED or Avian Flu.

PED has impacted our sales huge.

Ontario alone last year we sold close to 40 units just due the PED outbreak.

Farmers want to not have rendering trucks or other paths of disease coming onto their sites.

Companies are becoming more aware of biosecurity, trying to make sure they're not bringing diseases from one farm to another farm and just having everything contained on one site.

It keep the rendering trucks off the yard.

It also keeps, for people that are using bunker composting, which works very well except that you have the possibility of coyotes and rats and birds carrying sick diseased chunks of carcasses to the next farm.

This way your whole animal is contained and never can be accessed by anybody from the outside.

Mr Esau notes composting keeps deadstock out of landfills and is a superior alternative to burying or to incineration which puts smoke into the air and he says, because the system uses a small amount of electricity it has a very small carbon footprint.

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