- READLYN -- For dairy farmer
Mark Huebner, losing a valuable Holstein is bad enough. But the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's ban on the sale of downer cows was a hit below the money
belt.
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- Any bovine unable to stand or walk is referred to as
a downer cow. Most animals in this condition --- whether they broke their
leg on ice or severely pinched nerves during the calving process --- are
killed.
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- Prior to the ban, cattle brokers specializing in downer
cows would buy them for human consumption. Even though checks were a fraction
of what a healthy, walking animal would have been worth, farmers still
received something. The ban also prevents farmers from taking downers to
a locker to be butchered for themselves.
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- Now, farmers not only lose out on that money or valuable
meat, but they're also responsible for disposing the body. Some pay rendering
companies to do this, but that's where Huebner draws the line.
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- To ease the financial burden of the ban, Iowa State University
officials urge farmers to check out an ongoing composting study. Even though
it was originally geared toward disposing of animals during a large-scale
disease outbreak or agro-terrorism attack, the same principles apply on
a smaller scale.
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- "It's just an insult to pay $20 to a rendering company
after I've already lost plenty with the animal, and now I can't sell it,"
said Huebner.
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- Taking into account good dairy prices as of late, a quality,
fresh Holstein would bring in excess of $2,000 at a dairy sale, he said.
He would feel fortunate to get more than $200 for downer cow.
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- Huebner considers composting as a way of not adding insult
to injury.
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- He understands why the ban was implemented. A single
case of bovine spongiform encephelapothy, better known as mad cow disease,
was discovered last December in Washington state. The incurable disease
eats holes in the brains of cattle, and many end up stumbling and unable
to walk before dying.
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- Humans can develop a brain-wasting illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease, from consuming contaminated beef products. To protect the public
and restore faith in the beef industry, the USDA banned downer cows from
the food supply, no matter what the reason behind an animal's inability
to stand.
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- Within the last year, Huebner has composted three cows
and a couple calves. The cost is minimal, according to Huebner and ISU
officials, since composting materials like porous bedding and feed supplies
are usually available on farms.
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- Huebner was able to make a pile in less than an hour
with corn stalks and spoiled silage he would have had to dispose of anyway.
The only thing he didn't care for was burying the bones.
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- "It worked pretty good and didn't smell. If an animal
dies on the weekend during the summer and the rendering truck couldn't
get there right way, they can get ripe in a hurry," Huebner said.
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- ISU agricultural and biosystems engineer Tom Glanville
said preliminary findings of the three-year study, which started in 2002,
showed it generally takes eight to 12 months for the soft tissues and organs
of a 1,000-pound carcass to decay.
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- During the first 16 months of the $336,000 research study,
42 tons of cattle carcasses have been composted. Glanville said it's imperative
farmers use the right composting materials and enough of them to minimize
odor and liquids leaching into the ground, and to encourage proper decay
rates.
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- Experts recommend for 1,000 pounds of animal carcasses
that farmers use 1.4 tons of ground corn stalks, 3.2 tons of corn silage
or a ton of hay. Turning the pile occasionally will accelerate the composting
process.
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- "It's worked better than expected," Glanville
said. "We're purposely not turning the piles. ... Farmers are in the
business to do other things than handle dead animals. For many producers,
if it takes eight to 10 months, that's OK. They're not short on space,
but short on time."
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- According to a 2001 survey, only 12 percent of producers
solely use composting and 6 percent do it as a backup. Most of those producers
compost small animals, Glanville said.
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- He thinks the ban and favorable study results will encourage
more large animal composting in the future. Tripoli dairy farmer Allen
Blasberg said he's never tried it and doesn't know of many other farmers
that do.
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- Blasberg said the ban is necessary, but may have gone
too far by not letting a locker butcher their own animal. As long as rending
companies like National By-Products of Des Moines keep picking up animals
in a timely manner, he'll keep using them. He averages about two to three
cow deaths a year.
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- "If they'll (National By-Products) pick up an animal
for $7 (winter special), composting will take more time and effort than
its worth," Blasberg said, noting the financial loss due to the ban
is a blow.
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- National By-Products spokesman Mike Ford said it costs
farmers $10 to $40 to pick up a large animal, depending on location. He
hasn't noticed an increase in volume due to the ban, indicating some farmers
may be turning to composting.
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- For more information about large animal carcass composting,
check online at www.abe.iastate.edu/cattlecomposting
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- © The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier 2003 http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2004/04/11/business/
local/36205c08fa374fbc86256e71004b4e00.txt
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