How Farmers Can Reduce Costs with Animal Composting

By Blake Jackson

In an ideal situation, every animal raised on a farm would reach its intended market age. However, mortality is a natural part of livestock production. As the old saying goes, “If you are going to have livestock, you’re going to have deadstock.”

In recent years, the rendering industry has experienced declining values for hides, tallow, and meat and bone meal. This drop has resulted in higher service fees, leaving dairy and veal producers with growing costs for mortality disposal. Because every farm experiences some level of loss, these costs add up quickly, prompting farmers to explore alternatives to rendering.

Options for livestock mortality management vary by state, so it is essential to check with your Department of Agriculture or Environmental Protection for approved methods. In Pennsylvania, law requires that mortalities be properly disposed of within 48 hours.

Farmers there have four legal options: rendering, burial, incineration, or composting. Rendering involves paid pickup services, while burial requires specific soil depth and distance from water sources. Burning is possible but demands specialized equipment. Composting, meanwhile, uses natural heat and microbes to transform remains into organic material.

Composting has been successfully demonstrated by Penn State and Cornell Cooperative Extension with calves, pigs, and cows. The process involves combining high-carbon materials such as sawdust, woodchips, or dry bed pack with the nitrogen in animal mortalities.

This mixture quickly generates heat between 130-150°F, breaking down tissues into water, carbon dioxide, and stable organic matter.

The recommended method begins with a well-drained site, at least 200 feet from water sources. Farmers lay a two-foot base of woodchips or sawdust, place calves in layers with about one foot of carbon material between each and build the pile to about five to six feet.

A final two-foot cover of sawdust or recycled compost seals the system. After three to five months, the pile can be turned to check decomposition. By five months, the compost may be reapplied to fields or reused in the process.

Proper management maintaining airflow, preventing excess moisture, and balancing carbon-to-nitrogen ratios ensures effective composting while controlling odors, making this method a practical alternative for livestock producers.