Pork producers should be prepared to handle emergencies and not wait until large numbers of pigs suddenly die.

As states continue to modify environmental rules, and the availability of rendering service continues to shrink, producers should seriously consider developing a plan to deal with emergency pig losses on their farms, according to an expert on the subject at Iowa State University (ISU).

Tom Glanville, professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at ISU, has studied soil and water issues related to livestock burial, and conducted on-farm composting research and demonstration projects for the swine and poultry industries.

Last year, Glanville and his research team at ISU and Pennsylvania State University completed a three-year study of the performance and environmental impacts of using composting for emergency disposal of cattle. Currently, they are studying biosecure composting practices for pigs for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Short-Term Emergency Plan

“There is a big difference between losing your herd all in one day and losing a few pigs at a time. Due to the large mass of material to be disposed, and the resulting biosecurity and environmental concerns, your options are much more limited than for routine disposal of daily mortalities.

“Producers may be surprised by the number of potential roadblocks that can arise,” Glanville says. “Looking at the options and logistics, in advance of an emergency, can reduce frustration, costs and environmental and legal liabilities.”

Glanville provides this checklist to consider for emergency disposal of large numbers of dead stock:

Burial: “You are putting a lot of pollutants into the soil when you bury large numbers of carcasses, so environmentally sensitive locations are not acceptable for mass burial,” he says.

Proximity to water sources, wetlands, wells, shallow water tables and bedrock are important considerations. A statewide assessment of conditions in Iowa, for example, revealed that as much as 30-40% of the state is not well suited for mass burial.

To assist producers, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has developed a livestock burial zone map identifying locations where conditions are likely to limit or prevent approval of mass burial. The map can be viewed at http://csbweb.igsb.uiowa.edu/imsgate/introduction/home.asp. Before assuming your state would allow mass burial of livestock, make sure you check with state Natural Resources Conservation Service for details. In Iowa, the state DNR has developed a map of all farm sites that can be referred to in order to decide if burial is advisable.

Other state and federal agencies are taking similar steps, Glanville says. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment offers a program to help owners of large livestock operations identify and preplan burial sites for emergency disposal.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service has a web-based national soil survey that includes reports on the suitability of various soils for disposal of catastrophic livestock mortalities (http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/WebSoilSurvey.aspx).

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