Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

NOTICE: We grant permission for the use of this news as a free service to the news media.
Articles may be used either in their entirety or in part, provided that attribution remains. You may print the stories
and art or you may put it on your Web sites. High resolution photos, audio and video also are provided with many of
our articles for your use at http://agnews.tamu.edu/

March 14, 2006

Proper Disposal of Dead Animals Needed After Wildfires
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, (806) 677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Brent W. Auvermann, (806) 677-5600, b-auvermann@tamu.edu

AMARILLO – Ranchers across the Texas Panhandle must take care in
disposing of animals killed by wildfires that ravaged almost 700,000
acres, Texas Cooperative Extension experts urged.
Dr. Brent Auvermann, an Extension waste management engineer in
Amarillo, said improperly handled dead animals in large numbers are a
potential threat to water and air quality, and possibly human health as
well.
"They have to be disposed of with deliberate care and attention to the
environment," Auvermann said.
Brad Williams, Texas Animal Health Commission area director in
Amarillo, said estimates on the number of dead cattle are still being
gathered, but the figure could rise as high as 10,000.
"The first thing we need ranchers to understand is they should not drag
these dead cattle to the bar ditch," Williams said.
Document the number of head lost and contact county commissioners for
help in burying these animals, he advised.
In this situation, burying the cattle on the ranch -- either in
consolidated pits or individually where they lay -- may be the best
option, Williams said.
The key is to stay in compliance with the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality regulations, he said.
The state environmental commission provides the following guidelines:
– The burial site should not be located in an area with a high water
table or very permeable soils.
– The site should be at least 300 feet from the nearest drinking water
well or from any creek, stream, pond, lake or river and not in a flood
plain.
– The site should be at least 200 feet from property lines.
Eddie Vance, Environmental Quality section manager, stressed that
anyone planning to bury carcasses call him in advance at (806) 468-0510 to
get verbal permission. He will explain notification requirements,
including a letter and deed record process.
Letters documenting the process will need to be sent to TCEQ, Box
13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087.
Dr. Ted McCollum, Extension livestock specialist, said another option
is to work with a rendering facility, taking the carcasses to a central
location for easier pickup.
The other possibility is composting the carcasses, he said.
Composting might be a reasonable and potentially cost-effective
alternative to incineration, burial and rendering. It may take up to three
months for calves and yearlings to compost and twice that for a full-grown
steer or cow, he noted.
"Still," Auvermann said, "the natural heating that goes on in a good
compost pile will kill off most of the pathogens, and the end product can
be applied to land as an organic fertilizer."
The catch, he warned, is a compost pile can't just be thrown together
and expected to work.
"Get some help," he said. "You need the right mix of materials, a
secure site away from surface water and uncapped wells, and a front-end
loader, at a minimum."
For more information or guidance on building a carcass composting pile,
Auvermann can be contacted at (806) 677-5600 or b-auvermann@tamu.edu .
For complete Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules and
publications on disposal of carcasses, go to www.tceq.state.tx.us or call
(806) 468-0510.
 

do you suppose god is punishing texas?

KEvron
 

For spawning Dubya's public life? Mayhap.
 

werent they all going to be killed anyway?
 

A. There ain't no real border out there. Matter of time till they cross over to Oklahoma. (and of course we've got our own)

B. Remember about 8 years ago when the forest in Central America were all burning at the same time and the smake made it up too us in OKC, at 30,000 feet?

C. I don't think there are 10,000 cows pastured in the whole of the Texas Panhandle.

D.Sounds like there may be a lot of wholes dug out in those Texas pastures in the next few days. Some may not actually have anything in them just a sign on top that says 200 cows buried here.
An I guess a hole with fifty cows could look like it held a hundred as well.

E. The Coyote, crow, jay, and buzzard populations are going to blossom this spring for sure.
 

Toad, as an erstwhile farm kid, I love animals right up until you load 'em on the trailer to the killing floor.

And fire and smoke is a hell of a way to go for any critter.

Drlobojo, I'll bet there's more than 10,000 cattle IN TRAILERS in the Panhandle at any one time. (Feedlots are a whole different deal, but there are usually between 6 and 7 MILLION on feed in Texas at any give time.)

And yer right about claimed dead versus actual dead.

Makes me think of "Hud."
 

In the fall of '99, the Oklahoma County extension service office estimated there were 21,000 cattle in the county -- and between 1,300 and 1,500 in the Oklahoma City limits.

Ya cain't sling a cat without hittin' a cow in these parts!
 

ER's Daddy and brudder just dragged em over by the railroad tracks for the wolves to eat.
 

Thus turned the cycle of life.

How the hell did the one get in the dadgum well by the big walnut tree??? THAT image is BURNED into my early memory.

Note: Little ER was NOT playin' by an open well. Not really. Helpin' pick up walnuts, as I recall.
 

Dumbass calf saw his reflection and thought he had a new friend. It was a quarter of a mile from the home well but I remember the water taking a turn for the worse about then. Maybe it was my imagination
 

Wouldn't take brudder for some reason.