Many localities are looking for new ways to remove dead animals because a new Food and Drug Administration regulation bans the use of animal brains and spinal cords as part of animal feed. The rule is aimed at diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.
The rule requires removal and separation of brain and spinal cords from all cattle 30 months of age and older. About a third of rendering plants that have been processing animal carcassases appear likely to stop soon, David Meeker, vice president of scientific services at the National Renderers Association, told Tom Johnston of MeatingPlace, a news outlet for the red-meat industry.
For farmers who can no longer call a rendering plant for pickup, the best option "is probably on-farm composting," Meeker told MeatingPlace. "It's not easy to do it correctly with cattle, but it can be done. Some with nearby landfills may find that alternative useful. By far, the most environmentally sound option is rendering, and long-term government policies should be adopted so that renderers can economically recycle dead stock and offal whether or not it is used in animal feed."
Asked for the upside of the FDA regulation, Meeker said, "In spite of the fact that the risk of BSE in the U.S. is already negligible, the rule should remove the last remaining excuse to restrict international trade with the U.S. in beef and beef by-products. Often, conversations about beef trade ignore the need to reopen international markets to rendered by-products from U.S. cattle. The value of the by-products helps pay processing costs and contributes to profitability." (Read more) For a March item on how one locality was dealing with the issue, click here.
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