CUDWORTH, SASK. – A potentially stinky problem is mounting in parts of Saskatchewan as hog producers look for new ways to dispose of dead animals.
With the discovery of BSE in 2003 and the subsequent collapse of export markets for Canadian meat and bone meal, rendering companies in Western Canada stopped collecting dead animals as a free service to producers.
As a result, livestock producers pay to have their dead animals removed while others bury the carcasses on site, an option that has some rural residents concerned about odour, disease, ground water contamination and scavengers.
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“Previous to the discovery of BSE, there was no charge to collect fallen livestock, at least not within a 125 kilometre radius of Saskatoon and Moose Jaw,” said Bruce King, divisional manager of West Coast Reductions in Saskatoon.
“There’s now a four cent per pound fee for dead stock removal,” he added. “We’re just trying to recover some of our transportation costs.”
King said market prices for meat and bone meal produced from rendered animal carcasses were $250 a tonne before BSE was confirmed in an Alberta beef cow in May 2003.
Within weeks, bone meal exports were halted and the price fell to $40 a tonne.
The need for rendered materials, such as hog and cattle carcasses, also bottomed out.
In Saskatchewan, the response by large-scale hog barns has varied from producer to producer, said Andy Jansen, a manager in charge of inspections and regulations with Saskatchewan Agriculture.
Some large producers continued to refrigerate dead animals and pay to have the carcasses transported to rendering plants.
Others opted for composting, incineration or burial, which is the least expensive alternative.
“Burial pits are an option that we approve,” said Jansen.
“It is considered a normal agricultural practice, but there are some management practices that go with it.”
Jansen said changes in the rendering industry have accentuated the importance of dead stock management.
He said a number of operators have switched to on-site burial and, in some cases, the transition has generated complaints.
“(Some) operators don’t recognize how much work is involved in managing dead stock properly,” he said.
“Scavengers is usually where we get most of our complaints. There is a potential for odour as well … but our key concern with burial pits is to ensure that water resources are being protected.”
Jansen said operators who switch to on-site burial are expected to contact Saskatchewan Agriculture to ensure burial pits are properly located.
He said pits should be in discreet locations, preferably surrounded by shelterbelts, and carcasses should be covered with straw or dirt.
Soil type and proximity to aquifers should also be considered before a burial site is selected.
Cattle producer David Viczko of Cudworth, Sask., agreed that dead stock disposal is an important management issue for intensive livestock producers, but he wondered if on-site burial is a good option.
Viczko, who lives within a few kilometres of a Stomp Pork Farms finishing barn, said pits that contain dead feeder pigs, sows, weanlings and discarded fetuses are attracting rats, flies, ravens, magpies, coyotes and other scavengers.
Viczko is also concerned about odour and the potential for ground water contamination.
“I’m not against intensive livestock operations,” said Viczko, who once had a trucking contract with the barns’ owners.
“I’m all for adding value and I welcome any kind of progress we can make in this province, but it’s got to be done responsibly.”
Viczko described the pits he has seen as a smorgasbord for rats and other scavengers.
Each pit is surrounded by straw bales that are supposed to be used to cover the dead animals, but according to Viczko, the bales provide a perfect nesting spot for rats.
“They (the rats) have got it all. They’ve got a smorgasbord right there and then, when they’re done feeding, they go back and hide in the straw bales.”
Viczko’s other major concern is contamination.
He said above average rainfall during the past few years has raised the water table and exacerbated the potential for ground water contamination, spread of disease and leaching of antibiotics.
Viczko said a neighbour who lives near the site no longer uses his well because the water smells so bad.
“When you have ground water that’s higher than the base of your lagoons and pits, you’ve got to wonder if there’s a serious risk of contamination.”
He and another neighbour, Kelly Borstmayer, are considering filing a formal complaint to the Agricultural Operations Review Board.
At Saskatchewan Agriculture, Jansen confirmed that complaints over dead animal disposal have become more prevalent.
“We’ve had to deal with a few complaints, after the fact, due to changes in the rendering (industry),” he said. “They’re looking for alternatives.”
Jansen said hog barns over a certain size are required to submit manure and dead stock management plans before they receive government approval to operate.
Hog barns that change their management practices are expected to inform provincial livestock regulators.
“For the most part, (producers) have been pretty good,” he said.
“In fact, the hog industry is probably better than most because they’ve been under more scrutiny and they’re more sensitive to these things.”
Brad Cramer, general manager of Stomp Pork Farms, said the issue of dead stock management is an industry-wide problem that could grow.
He said his company has followed the guidelines set out by Saskatchewan Agriculture and has received no complaints from neighbours.
“We want to be good corporate citizens and good neighbours in the communities that we’re involved in” he said.
“So we encourage people, that if they feel there is an issue, please call us because we want to be proactive.”
Cramer said the company is looking at a strategy that involves on-site composters valued at $50,000 each.
“We know there’s (an industry-wide) problem but the constraint is capital, and any dollars that you spend, there’s no return,” he said.
“But again, we have to be responsible and manage our dead stock and we’re doing the best we can.”
Hog production in Saskatchewan stands at roughly 2.4 million pigs per year, including 2.2 million slaughter hogs and roughly 200,000 weanlings for export.
Industry estimates suggest annual mortality rates of three to four percent.
