We have been doing livestock composting for several years on a small, experimental scale. Now, as a service to our county livestock owners, we have opened it up to all who may need the service. This is a free service where anyone who has deceased livestock can bring the animal(s) to our Education Center, and we put them into a composting situation. This is achieved by using wood chips from tree removal company Asplundh, who bring us dozens of large truck loads of chips each year.

Basically, we build a ‘bed’ of wood chips 2-3 foot deep, place the animal on the bead, and cover it with another 3-4 foot of chips. The animal should break down with 6-8 weeks with no run-off of fluids and no odor. This is extremely environmentally friendly, as there is no exposure of potential disease to other animals, as the temperatures generated kill most potential vectors.

This is also compliant with state law, which basically requires deceased animal be disposed of in limited ways. These include a rendering company pick them up, they are buried in what amount to a 10 foot deep hole, are incinerated or, now, are composted.

Since most of our county livestock owners do not have the equipment to dig a 10 foot deep hole, there are no livestock incinerators and there are no rendering companies, this is a service that is greatly needed. In the first 5 months of 2021, we composted over 30 animals.

The animals we accept for composting are all livestock animals, no pets are allowed due to several potential health concerns. All types of livestock, including cattle, horses, goats, sheep, swine, even donkeys and alpacas, have been brought to us for disposal.

Just recently I conducted a training for 85 fellow Extension agents across the state on how we are doing service for our farmers, virtually via videos and Q&A session.