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ASF training leads to pig disposal method
Pork industry officials in Minnesota are using a method formed during African swine fever preparedness training to depopulate pigs.
Minnesota Pork CEO David Preisler tells Brownfield he traveled to North Carolina last summer to learn about the idea.
“It was actually used for some cleanup work after a hurricane, especially on the poultry side of things, and then adapted to use for pigs.”
He says Minnesota has set up two centralized rendering plants to help producers dispose of euthanized hogs.
“And that product will be made into fertilizer, pet food, and those sorts of things, so it’s truly recycled. The other thing we’re looking at, especially up in Minnesota, is what’s called ‘grinding and composting.”
Preisler says that involves taking the pig carcass and grinding it along with a carbon material like woodchips or cornstalks. The compost is then put into windrows that can be spread on farm fields this fall.
