Jean Bonhotal, director of the Cornell Waste Management Institute, has been helping farmers and regulatory agencies deal with the toughest organic waste disposal issues for the past 35 years. Here, she explains how she’s helping farmers and regulatory agencies cope with mass animal mortality from bird flu, barn fires, roadkill and more.
When did you first encounter bird flu?
I was called on to consult on one of the first U.S. bird flu outbreaks, at a commercial poultry farm in California, in 2015. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was leading the response, and they quickly realized that the affected farmers would not be able to safely bury such a large number of birds. When you are dealing with a large livestock mortality event, that creates a tremendous amount of organic material in the ground, and that pollutes water. I’ve been composting mortality for decades, so I was called on to help train folks in proper composting methods to ensure that pathogens and viruses are safely reduced and eliminated.
How has bird flu evolved since 2015?
At first, highly pathogenic avian influenza was only killing domestic birds, like chickens and turkeys – not wild birds. But in 2022, we started observing wild birds dying: vultures, pheasants, ducks, even 21 California condors in the Grand Canyon. It’s also jumped over to milk animals, but it’s a different strain: Birds have H5N1-strain avian influenza, and dairies have H5N5. Bird flu hasn’t necessarily mutated the way COVID did; it’s not as slippery as COVID is, but it is spreading among a greater number of animal species, though there’s variation in how deadly the disease is among different species.
What are you doing now to help address bird flu?
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is overseeing most bird flu outbreaks at commercial farms, and state veterinarians generally respond to small and backyard flocks. Cornell and other land grant universities have helped USDA create standard operating procedures to respond to poultry and livestock diseases and, currently, methods to dispose of billions of affected eggs. The Cornell Waste Management Institute works with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Department of Environmental Conservation and county Cornell Cooperative Extension agents to respond to and provide technical assistance on mortality composting. The end all and be all is trying to stop the spread. Because wild birds can carry the disease – one sneeze can affect a million birds – state wildlife staff also work on keeping wildlife away from flocks. I’ve worked directly with many New York farms, municipalities and state agencies in dealing with mass mortality from bird flu, but also from barn fires, roof collapses, flooding, roadkill disposal and other events. Responses take a whole team of people: engineers, veterinarians, ag departments, Departments of Environmental Conservation (wildlife/forestry), subject matter experts, heavy equipment operators and affected farms.
Why do you recommend composting over burying animals?
Any time you bury something, you’re putting it six feet closer to the water table. Burying has never been a good strategy; it takes longer for materials to break down when buried, as compared to composting, and burying doesn’t allow you to develop the bacteria and heat needed to kill pathogens effectively. Heat from the composting process kills organisms that develop spores and can persist for thousands of years if not destroyed, causing diseases like botulism, anthrax, tetanus and acute food poisoning.
Years ago, most farmers would send livestock mortality to be rendered [the process whereby livestock remains that are unsuitable for human consumption would be repurposed for use as pet or livestock feed or as fertilizer]. But when mad cow disease, scrapie and chronic wasting disease came along, scientific studies found that even after rendering, those diseases could be transmitted. To protect public health, USDA changed its regulations to forbid usage of dead or downed animals for rendering, which meant there was suddenly a much greater pressure on farmers to cope with livestock mortality. That’s one of the key problems the Cornell Waste Management Institute has been helping producers address for the past 25 years, though our mission is much broader and includes many varieties of organic waste recycling.
What resources does the institute offer for NY farmers and consumers?
The first natural rendering fact sheet, which I developed with Lee Telega, Joan Petzen, Ellen Harrison and Mary Schwarz, was published in 1989, and we’ve been helping farmers, municipalities, businesses and home gardeners to safely dispose of and reuse organic wastes ever since. In collaboration with many Cornell faculty and staff, we’ve done a tremendous amount of research on composting: the science and engineering of implementing composting properly; health and safety considerations for those performing the work; considerations for composting from a variety of sources, including livestock mortality, food waste, livestock and human manure, leaf and yard waste, and food processing residuals; and putting into perspective how microplastics and forever chemicals are involved in organic wastes.
We’ve also created a statewide map of compost facilities to help those who need to dispose of organic waste and to help those looking for sources of compost for their farm or garden. At the Cornell Waste Management Institute, we consider ourselves bridge builders. Farmer A may need waste feedstocks and Farmer B may need manure, so we connect them so they can help each other. It’s about building networks as much as it is about building knowledge. Cornell Cooperative Extension educators have always played an integral role in our work, as well.
