Alberta Beef Producer’s deadstock subcommittee recently presented its deadstock handling report to the board of directors. The deadstock issue in Alberta has been a concern since BSE reduced the pickup service from farms for rendering. About 75,000 tonnes of cattle carcasses are produced in Alberta every year and about half of this is picked up for rendering, but the rest is left to the elements for disposal.
The industry has become somewhat frustrated with this arrangement. Prior to BSE, West Coast Reductions covered most pickup costs due to its ability to produce fats and meat and bone meal that were sold back into the system. Now only fats can be rendered and the rest of the material is classified as specified risk material (SRM) that goes into a private landfill near Coronation, and producers shoulder the cost of any pickup. This has meant reduced business for the renderers and a headache for producers.
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The recent assessment and review dealt with Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Alberta Environment, West Coast Reductions and others that could add to the present state of affairs, primarily from a legal point of view. Recent Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) literature was assessed and referenced, and advantages and disadvantages of various ways to deal with deadstock, including costs and dealing with SRM, were addressed. Natural disposal, community pickup, incineration, carcass burial, rendering, composting and thermal hydrolysis were reviewed.
Producers look at this as an extra expense after an animal has already been lost, maybe $800 to $1,200 or more. Any disposal pickup might cost at least $75 extra and biosecurity risk still continues. Natural disposal doesn’t do much for containing prions that cause BSE, or most viral or bacterial disease organisms.
It seems that much of the problem has been downloaded to municipalities. Cardston County put up a state-of-the art composting system and it looks after pickup. There is still the issue of what to do with the compost and because it is still considered SRM it can’t be put onto farmers’ fields or pastures. The MD of Ranchlands and Cypress Hills have provided some costs towards rendering pickup and this cost goes back to the local taxpayers.
Incineration would look after the biosecurity issue, but there is a cost. This isn’t just burning but getting temperatures up to 850°. A private project being planned for the province uses thermal hydrolysis that is a combination of high temperature and high pressure. Byproducts can be pulled from this system because they are no longer classified as SRM. These can go into a sales stream that could defray the costs of pickup, processing and product distribution, even producing a profit stream. The big problem with this is finding $15 million to finish the project.
A copy of the ABP report is available on the website or by calling the office.
