Mortality Composting

Materials address composting as a method to manage livestock mortalities (including mass mortalities resulting from avian influenza), butcher wastes and road killed animals. Also available is a table and a searchable excel file of US Mortality and Butcher Waste Disposal Laws.

• February 2024 - New Solid Waste Rules for New York State

Horse Mortality: Carcass Disposal

• 8p illustrated fact sheet "Horse Mortality: Carcass Disposal Alternatives" addressing disposal options for your horse. 2012.
• 5-minute video "Natural Rendering for Horses - Composting Horse Mortality" shows how to properly compost a dead horse. Download or view on YouTube. 2012.
• Composting Horse Mortality and Mortality Disposal Alternatives. Proceedings from Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. 2015.
• Fate of Barbiturates and Non-steriodal Anti-inflammatory Drugs During Carcass Composting. Paper published in Trends in Animal & Veterinary Sciences Journal. 4(1):1-12. 2013.
• Fate of Ivermectin in Manure Composting. 9-page research summary. 2011.
• Quantification of Sodium Pentobarbital Residues from Equine Mortaltiy Compost Piles. Paper written for presentation at the 4th International Symposium: Managing Animal Mortalities, Products, By-producs and Associated Health Risk: Connecting Research, Regulations and Response. 2012.
• Quantification of Sodium Pentobarbital Residues from Equine Mortality Compost Piles. Journal of Animal Science 93(4):1824-1829. 2015.

Natural Rendering: Composting Livestock Mortality & Butcher Waste

• 12p illustrated fact sheet describing the process, cautions, problems, biosecurity issues, economics and more. 2002, updated 2010.
• 20-minute video describes mortality and butcher residual composting featuring eight operations. Download in English or Spansh. 2002.
• A set of 3 posters (English and Spanish) has been developed for educators; pdf and ppt formats. 2002.:
  • Butcher Waste Composting - Key Points of Static Pile Butcher Residual Composting.
  • Carcass Composting - Key Points of Static Pile Carcass Composting.
  • Risk - Potential Environmental and Biosecurity Risk of Dead Animal Disposal.
• A How-To On Livestock Composting.  Article published in Northeast DairyBusiness, 10(11):18-19. 2008.
• Are Your Deadstock Piles and Disposal Costs Causing Your Farm Nightmares? Article published in Country Folks. Section B: 21-23. 2009.
• Mortality Composting Presentation. Presentation given at "Livestock Mortality Disposal: Looking for Solutions" Roundtables in NYS, fall 2018.
• Natural Rendering: A Natural Solution for Mortality and Butcher Waste. Article published in Small Farm Quarterly. Fall 2003.
• On-Site Composting of Meat By-Products. 15p final report of a project exploring the economic viability and technical obstacles to on-site composting of meat by-products. 2001.
• The Space It Takes - Footprint Calculator for Composting Butcher Waste. 8pg document. 2010.
• Where There is Livestock, There is Occasionally Deadstock. Article published in Progressive Dairyman, 15:18-19. 2015. (PDF file).
• Cornell News Service press release "Natural Rendering of Downer Cattle Called Economical Alternative by Cornell Compost Experts".
• The video and fact sheet have won several awards (below) with the video capturing a Blue Ribbonat the 2003 ASAE Annual Meeting .
• November 2003 - awarded Jean Bonhotal in the Poster Session for "You Can Compost What? Disposal of Livestock Mortality & Butcher Waste"
• November 2003 - NYS Association of County Agricultural Agents awarded Jean Bonhotal the Communications Northeast Regional Finalist Award for the fact sheet "Natural Rendering: Composting Livestock Mortality and Butcher Waste"
• November 2003 - Outstanding New Extension Publication Award given for contributions of publications that are timely for the subject matter need and have received user-ship among Extension Educators.
• July 2003 - The National Association of County Agricultural Agents awarded Jean Bonhotal the Communication Award for the video tape "Natural Rendering: Composting Livestock Mortality and Butcher Waste"
• July 2003 - The National Association of County Agricultural Agents awarded Jean Bonhotal the Certificate of Participation for her presentation "You Can Compost What? Disposal of Livestock Mortality & Butcher Waste"  
• July 2003 - American Society of Agricultural Engineers awarded the Natural Rendering: Composting Livestock Mortality and Butcher Waste video a Blue Ribbon in the 2003 ASAE Educational Aids Competition.

Avian Influenza and Poultry Composting

• Natural Rendering: Composting Poultry Mortality. A 12p illustrated fact sheet. 2008.
• A 6-minute video of the same title is available for downloading. Click here. 2008.
• Illustrated poster, PDF or Powerpoint (11x17). 2008. Spanish version (PDF or Powerpoint). 2025
• A literature review of Avian Influenza and methods of disposal of affected poultry. 2008.
• Emergency Response Planning for Disposal of Avian Influenza Affected Birds in NYS. Proceedings from the 3rd International Symposium: Management of Animal Carcasses, Tissue and Related Byproducts. 2009.
• Mortality Composting Protocol for Avian Influenza Infected Flocks - FY2016 HPAI Response. 31p procedure manual. View here. Manual can also be accessed here. 2016.
• Mortality Management Options During an Avian Influenza Outbreak. This 70-min. webcast provides a curent update of the outbreak and highlights mortality management options. View here. October 2015.
• 12p illustrated fact sheet (PDF) for poultry composting and addresses the emergency response to disease control, 2008 (revised 2016).
• 6-minute video "Composting Poultry Mortality" complements the fact sheet (download), 2008.
• Illustrated poster (PDF or Powerpoint), 2008. Spanish version (PDF or Powerpoint), 2025.

Other Mortality Composting Resources

• Carbon and bulking material contact list. Bonhotal, J., Schwarz, M. Cornell Waste Management Institute. 2018.
• Composting Animal Mortalities. Bonhotal, J., Schwarz, M., Rynk, R. Cornell Waste Management Institute. 23pg. 2014.
• Quality Assurance in Mortality Composting, Mortality Composting Safety. Schwarz and Bonhotal. Proceedings of the 29th Annual Goat Field Day. American Institute for Goat Research, Langston University, Langston OK, pg 21-31. 2014.
• Webinars.  Archived webinars available for viewing. Click here.
• Livestock Mortality Composting For Large and Small Operations in the Semi-Arid West, EB0205. 28pg manual. English or Spanish. 2012.
• Composting Mortality - How To poster. 2010
• US Mortality and Butcher Waste Disposal Laws. A searchable map of rules, regulations and guidance of US disposal laws. 2009. (updated 2012)
• Sustainable Waste Management in Mongolia, Dornod. A Fulbright Program Specialists Report. Jean Bonhotal was invited to Mongolia to work with officials there in order to mine resources from Dornod aimags waste stream and add value to those products. The following is a summary of the work she did there. August 2019.
• Managing Mortalities for Beef and Dairy Producers - webcast: A recent FDA rule is likely to impact the cost and/or availability of rendering services for cattle producers. What is this rule and how will it impact service? Are there other environmentally-responsible methods of carcass disposal? This presentation was originally broadcast on June 19, 2009.
• A How-To on Livestock Composting. Article published in Northeast DairyBusiness, 10(11):18-19. 2008.
• Are Your Deadstock Piles and Disposal Costs Causing Your Farm Nightmares? Article published in Country Folks, Section B:21:23, 2009.
• Composting Animal Mortalities. Bonhotal, J., Schwarz, M., Rynk, R. Cornell Waste Management Institute. 23pg. 2014.
• Composting Horse Mortality and Mortality Disposal Alternatives. Proceedings from Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. 2015.
• Composting Mortality "How To" - poster. 2012.
• Composting Road Kill. Links to materials developed from this project: 12p illustrated fact sheet, 8-minute DVD, poster, 2007.
• Composting Road Killed Deer in New York. Article published in BioCycle 45(5):25-26, 2004.
• Composting Swine from a Brucella suis Outbreak in the Northeast. 50-minute webinar presented by Jean Bonhotal for APHIS.
• Effectiveness of Composting as a Means of Emergency Disposal: A Literature Review. Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Managing Animal Mortality, Products, By Products and Associated Health Risk. 9pg. 2015. Proceedings and Compendium.
• Effectiveness of Composting Road-Killed Deer in New York State. Article published in Compost Science & Utilization 18(4):232-241, 2010.
• Emergency Planning for Avian Influenza in New York State (and Composting Mortality). Links to a 12p illustrated fact sheet, 6-minute DVD, and poster, 2007.
• Emergency Response Planning for Disposal of Avian Influenze Affected Birds in NYS. Proceedings from the 3rd International Symposium: Management of Animal Carcasses, Tissue and Related Byproducts. 6p. 2009.
• Environmental Effects of Mortality Disposal. Proceedings from the 3rd International Symposium: Management of Animal Carcasses, Tissue and Related Byproducts. 10p. 2009. (full proceedings)
• Evaluating Pathogen Destruction in Road Kill Composting. Article published in BioCycle, 47(11):49-51. 2006.
• Fish/Shellfish Waste Composting. 1996, revised 2017.
• Horse Mortality: Carcass Disposal Alternatives. 8p illustrated fact sheet and 5-video (download or view on YouTube). 2012.
• Management of Animal Carcasses, Tissue & Related By-Products - Connecting Research, Regulations and Response - 3rd International Symposium: Proceedings and Compendium. 2009.
• Mortality Composting Protocol for Avian Influenza Infected Flocks - FY2016 HPAI Response. 31p procedure manual. Manual can also be access here. 2016.
• Mortality Management Options During an Avian Influenza Outbreak. This 70-min. webcast provides a current update of the outbreak and highlights mortality management options. View here. October 2015.
• Natural Rendering: A Natural Solution for Mortality and Butcher Waste. Article published in Small Farm Quarterly, Fall, pg 17. 2003.
• Natural Rendering: Composting Livestock Mortality & Butcher Waste. Links to materials developed from this project:
  • 12p illustrated "how to" fact sheet, 2002.
  • 20-minute video demonstrating methods at 8 facilities (download). Click here for Spanish version. 2002.
  • 3 illustrated posters available for download and printing in English and Spanish and ppt and pdf formats:
• On-Site Composting of Meat By-Products. 15p final report of a project exploring the economic viability and technical obstacles to on-site composting of meat by-products. 2001.
• Pathogen Analysis of New York State Department of Transportation Road Killed Deer Carcass Compost Facilities. Literatuare review, reports, illustrated fact sheet and poster on static pile composting to manage road killed deer and other animals. 2007-8.
• Quality Assurance in Mortality Composting and Mortality Composting Safety. Proceedings from American Institute for Goat Research, Langston University, Langston, OK. 2014
• Quantification of sodium pentobarbital residues from equine mortality compost piles. Article published in the Journal of Animal Science 93(4):1824-1829. 2015.
• The Space It Takes - Footprint Calculator for Composting Butcher Waste. 8pg document. 2010.
• US Mortality and Butcher Waste Disposal Laws. A downloadable word or excel file of rules, regulations and guidance of US disposal laws. Updated 2012.
• What To Do With A Dead Deer: Compost It. Article published in the Cornell Chronicle. 2012.
• Where There is Livestock, There is Occasionally Deadstock. Article published in Progressive Dairyman. 2015.