Producers to Lumber Cost of New Disposal System

US - A U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation set to take effect in April will make disposing of livestock more difficult and could create risks of its own.
calendar icon 2 December 2008
clock icon 1 minute read

According to PorkMagazine, the new regulations, designed to protect the food supply from bovine spongiform encephalopathy-infected cattle, may stop some renderers from picking up dead cattle. The news agency claims that the FDA's rule will prohibit the use of brains and spinal cords of older cattle as ingredients in livestock feed and pet food, according to The Associated Press.

As a result, many farmers — especially now, with the economy in crisis — may simply bury dead cattle on their property or let them rot in the open, industry officials and regulators say.

"There will be some illegal disposal — animals that get dragged into the woods or into the back fields," Gerald Smith Jr., president of Winchester, Va.-based Valley Proteins Inc., told PorkMagazine. His company operates 12 rendering plants in seven states but will no longer remove dead cattle from farms come February. He said the fee per animal would have to go from $85 to $200 to cover the additional expense.

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