Farm-Scape is sponsored by Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork Play Audio Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.

Farm-Scape, Episode 1352

Alberta Agriculture Food and Rural Development says the added costs for rendering are prompting livestock producers to consider other options for the disposal of dead animals.

Prior to the discovery of the single case of BSE in Alberta the only cost to the producer associated with deadstock removal was for the setup of a collection site.

Rendering costs in Alberta have gone from zero to a minimum of 25 dollars per pickup, or about 11 cents per kilogram, on average.

Pork Technology Transfer Specialist Jennifer Hannesson says producers need to keep in mind provincial regulations for the destruction and disposal of deadstock as they consider their options.

"The rule of thumb is you want disposal within 48 hours and there's five basic options available.

There's burial in a pit or landfill area, burning, composting, rendering or natural, which would dragging out to the bush.

In all of those options there are specific guidelines that must be followed.

For example, if an animal is euthanized by chemical means that animal should not be available to scavengers so that animals must be buried or burned or rendered.

As well if an animal has died of an infectious disease or something that is reportable then an inspector, maybe a veterinarian, will have to dictate how that animal is disposed.

From different people I've talked to, burial and natural seem to be a means. There are some producers out there that are starting to evaluate the option of composting dead stock.

That's not very common right now in Alberta but perhaps it may be if the costs continue for deadstock pickup by rendering companies".

Hannessen says the new costs associated with the collection of deads have reduced deadstock removal by renderers by as much as 90 percent for all species.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.