Animal composting offers disposal alternatives for livestock producers

Missouri livestock producers are protecting the environment using a University Extension-developed method for disposing of large animal carcasses. Gene and David Reckamp have composted carcasses from their 200-sow, farrow-to-finish operation near Wright City since May 1993.

"We used to bury dead pigs on a site away from our buildings, but composting nearby under a roof is more convenient, especially in bad weather," David Reckamp said.

Missouri law permits the composting of any animal carcass. The operation is a low- man-hour, low-cost and environ-mentally sound addition to livestock farms. The finished compost provides a natural source of fertilizer that can be spread on fields.

Gene and David Reckamp built this facility for composting carcasses from their swine operation.

Composting animal remains started with the poultry industry on the East Coast, where large-scale poultry producers dispose of hundreds of pounds of carcasses daily. Charles Fulhage and John Hoehne, agricultural engineers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, were first to determine the process would reduce the remains of larger animals. They developed the basic techniques used by the Reckamps and other Missouri producers.

The Reckamps worked with Charlie Ellis, extension agricultural engineering spe-cialist in Lincoln County, to design and implement their program. "We put some design numbers together for them," Ellis said. "Then we gave them the information, and they ran with it."

Using extension recommendations, the Reckamps built a concrete-floored facility for composting carcasses. "Our investment in the building was about $2,800 for lumber and concrete," David Reckamp said.

Carcasses are covered with sawdust and sprayed with water. The compost is stirred every three months to promote bacterial action. Under the sawdust, temperatures in some compost mounds reach 150-160 degrees, more than enough to kill most pathogens. When a bay fills to 4 feet, the compost is transferred to another bay.

After three years, the compost occupies two-and-a-half bays. "We don't expect to have to remove any of the compost in the foreseeable future. It will simply continue to break down," said David Reckamp.

Hoehne said, "You can put a 400-pound sow in there, and if you turn it after six months, you won't find anything except maybe one or two of the big bones, and they'll be soft."

For more information, contact the exten-sion center in your county. Two University Extension publicationsWQ0351: "Com-posting Dead Swine" and WQ0216: "Dead Animal Disposal Laws in Missouri"are available from Extension Publications at 1-(800) 292-0969 or on the World Wide Web at: http://etcs.ext.missouri.edu/publications/xplor/waterq/

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