43 It’s Farming. And It’s Better. Better Farming | February 2024 DELTA POWER EQUIPMENT Alvinston, 519-898-2961 Chatham, 519-351-4300 Dunvegan, 613-527-1501 Renfrew, 613-432-4133 Winchester CIH, 613-774-2273 deltapower.ca EQUIPMENT ONTARIO Lindsay, 705-324-6136 Port Perry, 905-982-1500 equipmentontario.com J & H SALES & SERVICE Chesley, 519-363-3510 jhsales.com PREMIER EQUIPMENT LTD. Alliston, 705-435-7551 Ayr, 519-632-8998 Elmira, 519-669-5453 Listowel, 519-291-5390 Norwich, 519 688-1011 Ospringe, 519-833-9332 Smithville, 905-957-2133 Tavistock, 519-655-2200 ROBERT’S FARM EQUIPMENT Walton, 519-887-6365 robertsfarm.com FROM THE GROUND UP. Salford’s BBI Sniper cuts compaction by spreading up to 120 feet. Simple 12 section control places fertilizer where you need it and reduces input costs. – Salford. Precision from the ground up. FIELD YOUR BEST Salford, Ontario Elie, Manitoba Scan to see more Salford Equipment Livestock years that have helped these challenges. With the Increasing Deadstock Capacity Initiative from funding offered by OMAFRA, we did see a few more service providers and people that were licensed to pick up deadstock and move them to facilities.” Another factor that has changed producer use of rendering facilities is cost. “We do recognize that years ago people would get paid for deadstock and now there’s a cost to get it picked up, and we recognize that plays into the decision to bury or compost or use rendering services for deadstock,” says Brandstetter. With options such as composting, it can be challenging to achieve the right conditions without additional labour. “Composting is labour intensive,” says MacTavish. “It’s not just putting an animal in the manure pile. You need substrate and need the right temperature at the right spot. You also need to turn the pile. It sounds like a great idea, but in practice you might have the best intentions of doing everything right, but farming doesn’t always allow for that. “Farmers are notorious for not counting how much their time is worth and can think that just because they are using their time to do something, it’s cheaper.” Steve Leech, director of food safety and animal health at Chicken Farmers of Canada, says that farm management factors may play a role in the deadstock handling strategy that works best. “For chicken farmers, it comes down to a few options: composting on farm whether that’s in the manure pile or another facility, burial is an option depending on provincial regulations; incineration on farm; or working with a rendering company that can come pick up the mortalities and render that product,” says Leech. “Farm factors would definitely play in as well as location and availability of services.” For example, Leech says composting may be straightforward for most chicken farmers, but those who have their manure immediately hauled away may need to review other options. Leech says that biosecurity is the main challenge that chicken farmers face with deadstock management. “Each option has pros and cons. The biggest thing is maintaining biosecurity regardless of which option you choose,” says Leech. “That includes the personnel handling mortalities, scavenger access, and even if rendering trucks are coming, it’s important to maintain that biosecure area. All of those issues can be managed but it takes a focus on biosecurity and standard operating procedures to make sure it’s done right.” In addition to challenges with labour, service availability and farm feasibility, regulations that are in place
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