What do you do with a dead cow the size of a Smart Car? A dead pig as big as a washing machine? More and more, the answer is composting - it saves farmers money, protects the environment and returns animals slowly to the earth - and two programs next month will feature it.

Livestock Mortality Composting Workshops are being offered March 7 in Carey, OH, about 60 miles south of Toledo, and March 8 in Newark, about 40 miles east of Columbus. Registration costs $10 and can be done at the door. A composting manual is included.

Proper composting - done without odors, vermin or objectionable gases - is the focus.

The program will be the same at both places.

"The livestock industry is faced with discovering innovative and economical ways to dispose of mortality losses," says the flier for both events. "This need has been brought on by the disappearance of rendering plants, concerns over groundwater pollution from burial, and the economic and environmental issues of incineration.

"Composting of dead animals," the flier says, "is an option that is available to all livestock producers."

To read the entire article, link here.

For more information, read Windrow Composting and Dealing With Deads.