Overview

There are several options for disposal of large numbers of carcasses that meet regulatory requirements when a farm is required to depopulate because of:

  • lack of processing capacity
  • disease
  • market interruption

 Ontario Regulation 106/09 Disposal of Dead Farm Animals specifies the requirements.

Option 1: delivery to a licensed disposal facility (rendering plant) or an approved waste disposal site

Within 48 hours after depopulation, a licensed hauler must deliver the carcasses to:

  • a licensed disposal facility (rendering plant)
  • an approved waste disposal site (landfill)

In both scenarios, there are costs associated with trucking the carcasses from the farm to the disposal site.

For rendering plants, there will be a tipping fee for accepting the material. Due to the limited capacity to process this material, we advise pre-booking a time and volume before undertaking the depopulation.

For landfill sites, the tipping fee for taking this material is generally charged on a tonnage basis.

Licensed disposal facilities

Landfills that accept deadstock

Option 2: windrow composting of carcasses on-farm

This has proven to be a viable option for handling large volumes of poultry carcasses following a depopulation event.

The fact sheet, Windrow composting of poultry carcasses, contains more information on the process.

If done properly, after 40 to 60 days, the farm will have a pile of humus-like material to apply to crop land as a source of nutrients (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) and organic matter.

Requirements

There are several requirements to using this method:

  • Keep the location of compost piles away from sensitive features:
    • 15 metres from drilled wells
    • 30 metres from dug wells
    • 100 metres from municipal wells
    • 50 metres flow path from nearest watercourse or tile inlet
    • 200 metres from neighbouring houses
    • 100 metres from neighbouring barns
    • 30 metres from highways
  • Compost piles must not be located on organic soils, porous sandy soils (hydraulic soil group A or AA) nor soils having a depth less than 0.9 metres to bedrock. Compost piles must be located at least six metres away from field drainage tiles.
  • It requires large volumes of substrate material to build an absorbent base under the carcasses to prevent liquid from seeping out and to provide adequate cover (0.6 metres) over the carcasses to prevent scavenging. The appropriate substrate contains adequate carbon containing materials to achieve a target Carbon: Nitrogen ratio in the pile for the aerobic microorganisms to break down. Suitable substrate materials include cereal or bean straw, corn stover, hay or silage, wood shavings or sawdust, poultry litter or bedded horse manure.
  • Manure from cage layer barns is not recommended as it does not have a high enough carbon content and without bedding it is extremely dense so not suitable for providing an aerobic environment in the pile.
  • The windrow will need to be "turned" or inverted at least once during the process to re-blend the materials and introduce oxygen into the pile for the microorganisms to do their job of breaking down the carcasses.

There are many regulatory requirements that you must adhere to. If you require consideration beyond the regulations, you must submit a written application to OMAFRA requesting an Emergency Authorization under Ontario Regulation 106/09. This request must be submitted 48 to 72 hours before the flock depopulation event.

Option 3: burial of carcasses on-farm

This option is strictly tied to site feasibility as location of the burial pit is contingent on soil conditions and setback distances from sensitive features to prevent contamination of groundwater since the carcasses will take a long time to breakdown.

There must be minimum 0.6 metres of soil cover placed over the carcasses to prevent scavenging. Mound backfill over the burial pit to prevent water ponding on top of the pit and to account for soil settlement over time.

There are several requirements with this option:

  • Burial pits must be located:
    • more than 50 metres from a drilled well
    • 100 metres from a dug well
    • 250 metres from a municipal well
    • 100 metres from any surface water or tile inlet
    • at least 6 metres from any field drainage tile.
    • at least 15 metres from lot lines
    • 100 metres from barns located on adjacent properties
    • 200 metres from lot line of land that is in a residential area, commercial, community or institutional use.
  • Burial pits are prohibited from being located on land that is included in the 1 in a 100-year flood plain, contains organic soils or soil that is classified as hydrologic soil group AA.
  • The lowest point of a burial pit must be at least 0.9 metres above the top of the uppermost identified bedrock layer or aquifer.

There are many regulatory requirements that you must adhere to. If you require consideration beyond the regulations, you must submit a written application to OMAFRA requesting an Emergency Authorization under Ontario Regulation 106/09. This request must be submitted 48 to 72 hours before the flock depopulation event.

Failure to dispose of deadstock properly

Failure to dispose of deadstock properly poses a threat to the environment, the public safety, cause nuisance complaints and is a provincial offence.

An agriculture enforcement officer from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has the authority to investigate and place fines for violations of Ontario Regulation 106/09 Disposal of Dead Farm Animals.

Contact us

For more information on emergency disposal of on-farm deadstock, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or email ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca.