NATURAL RENDERING
Contact: J. Craig Williams, Tioga County Extension

Articles and Factsheets (.pdf)
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Handout: Cow and Calf Composting Guidelines and Resources

Powerpoints

Composting Photos of Process

The following photos detail the composting procedure. Click on a thumbnail below to see the full sized photograph.

Add 2 feet of sawdust or wood chip base in a well drained area more than 200 feet from a water source.	Lay cows or calves in the center of the pile.	Cover the animals with 2 feet of top cover. This cover can be green sawdust, compost material from another finished pile, or dry silage-bedpack.
Let the pile sit for 3 months for smaller animals or 6 months for cows. You can add more animals to the end of the pile, forming a windrow.
Compost pile temperatures should reach 140 to 160 degrees F.	The pile can be turned after 3 to 6 months.	Turning the pile and adding in some hay material.
Turning the pile will incorporate air into it and it will compost more quickly.	Notice the steam from the pile during turning.	After a second 3 to 6 months, the pile material can be used for top cover on a new pile, or can be spread.
Steam from loading a pile that was still cooking.	Speading a pile on corn ground to be plowed under the same season.	Properly composted cow bones will have a whitish grey color after 6 months.

PA State Law Regulation Information

Links and On-Line Resources

Field Guide to On-Farm Composting (1999). Penn State University, College of Ag. Sciences Publications.

Composting at Penn State. Organic Materials Processing and Education Center. Penn State University, Agricultural and Biological Engineering.

Composting Dead Livestock: A new solution to an old problem. Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University.

Emergency Cattle Composting Information. Iowa State University

Composting Dairy Farm Mortality: Parts 1-7. Penn State Dairy Alliance Weekly Features. January - March 2001.

A Recipe for Disposal. DairyBusiness Communications: A Multi Ag Media Company.

Composting Publications Menu. Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES) Publication List.

Composting Swine Mortality Principles and Operation. Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet.

Natural Rendering:Composting Livestock Mortality and Butcher Waste. Cornell Waste Management Institute.

Composting Information and Videos. Cornell Waste Management Institute.

NCDS National Carcass Disposal Symposium - December 2006 proceedings

Other State Programs:

University of Minnesota - Composting of Animal Mortalities

University of Maine - Maine Compost School (award winning)

University of Maryland - Composting Animal Mortalities on the Farm
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if you have questions or comments, or want to send J. Craig composting pictures,
Click here to e-mail J. Craig Williams