Follow State-Approved Methods for Burying Carcasses of Livestock Killed by Wildfires

Recent wildfires have left some agricultural producers contemplating how to effectively dispose of livestock carcasses.

 

In Oklahoma there are several approved carcass disposal options, including burial, landfills, incineration, rendering and composting. The volume of carcasses needed to be disposed of may dictate the most effective method to use.

 

"Burial is perhaps the most common method of carcass disposal, but livestock producers need to remember there are state-approved guidelines that must be followed,” said Richard Coffey, head of the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences.

 

Current Oklahoma guidelines for burial of mortalities include:

• Burial of dead livestock and poultry requires the construction of a pit.
• The bottom of the burial pit must be at least one foot above any floodplain level and at least two feet above the seasonal-high water table. If there is bedrock in the area, the bottom of the pit must be at least two feet above the bedrock.
• The burial pit must be located at least 300 feet from any wells, waters of the state, neighboring residences, public areas or property lines.
• Carcasses must be covered with a minimum of two-and-a-half feet of topsoil after placement in the pit. Burial pits should be routinely inspected to ensure wild animals do not dig up and drag carcasses away.

 

“Its also important for livestock producers to remember there are criminal statutes related to the improper disposal of mortalities,” Coffey said.

 

State criminal statutes (title 21, section 1223) have the following provisions:

• It shall be unlawful for any person to leave or deposit, or cause to be deposited or left, the carcass of any animal, chicken or other fowl in any well, spring, pond or stream of water; or leave or deposit the same within one-fourth (1/4) mile of any occupied dwelling or of any public highway, without burying or disposing of the carcass in accordance with the recommendations and requirements of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.
• It shall be the duty of the owner of any domestic animal in the State of Oklahoma to dispose of any carcass within twenty-four (24) hours after notice of the knowledge of the death. Disposal shall be in accordance with the recommendations and requirements of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. It shall be unlawful to bury any carcass in any land along any stream or ravine where it may become exposed through erosion of the soil, or where the land is at any time subject to overflow.
• Every person who violates the two preceding provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

 

“Be aware that licensed concentrated animal feeding operations and registered poultry feeding operations must receive permission from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry’s Agricultural Environmental Management Services (AEMS) Division prior to burial,” said Jeremy Seiger, AEMS director. “We will work with non-licensed operations to provide guidance as well, and are well aware of the animal disposal challenges everyone faces because of the wildfires.”

 

AEMS can be contacted by phone at (405) 522-4659. ODAFF regulates livestock and poultry mortalities in the state.

 

“Wildfires are a time when we often see catastrophic mortality losses,” Coffey said. “Catastrophic losses are defined as any death loss that exceeds the capacity of the current disposal system to accommodate those losses within 24 hours.”