Kansas

Exclusive: Thousands of U.S. cattle buried, dumped at Kansas landfill

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CHICAGO, July 26 (Reuters) – Prime U.S. cattle feeding firms despatched 1,000-pound carcasses to a Kansas landfill, the place they had been flattened by loader machines and combined with trash, after a June heatwave killed hundreds of cows, paperwork seen by Reuters present.

Different cattle had been buried in unlined graves, a feeding firm mentioned.

Neither is a typical technique for disposing of our bodies. However so many cows died within the uncommon warmth and humidity that amenities that usually convert carcasses into pet meals and fertilizer merchandise had been overwhelmed, prompting the state authorities and cattle feeders to take emergency measures. learn extra

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The mass deaths and subsequent scramble to take care of decaying our bodies sparked a push for adjustments within the meat trade in Kansas, the third-largest U.S. cattle state.

Kansas is forecast to see extra excessive temperatures that may stress and doubtlessly kill cattle this summer season, including to the myriad issues brought on by more and more excessive climate linked to local weather change.

Though state officers approved firms to get rid of carcasses on the Seward County Landfill in Liberal, Kansas, they’re now contemplating options to lower the dangers for foul smells and different issues if extra deaths happen, the landfill’s director mentioned.

The disposal strategies and identities of firms that misplaced cattle haven’t beforehand been reported. They had been contained in paperwork Reuters obtained from the Kansas Division of Well being and Surroundings and confirmed by some firms concerned.

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Not less than 2,117 cattle died after humidity ranges spiked, winds disappeared and temperatures topped 100 levels Fahrenheit (38°C) in southwestern Kansas throughout the weekend of June 11, state information present. It was early within the 12 months for such warmth and earlier than some cattle had absolutely shed their winter coats.

Seward County Landfill Director Brock Theiner estimated the dump alone took in roughly 1,850 to 2,000 useless cattle.

FLATTENED CATTLE, PUTRID SMELL

Landfill employees used loading gear with metal wheels to flatten the cattle to about eight inches and combined the our bodies with rubbish, a course of that took almost three weeks, Theiner mentioned.

“After you run them over they’re going to go flat, however they’re gonna sponge again up,” Theiner mentioned. “You get a mass of ’em and also you get on it, and it is like operating a bit of kit on high of a water mattress. It strikes.”

Kansas briefly suspended necessities that carcasses be coated by at the least six inches (15.24 cm) of filth or trash every day as a result of surprising deaths, Theiner mentioned. The carcasses had a putrid odor up shut, he added.

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“As soon as you bought in it, whew!” he mentioned. “I’ve a pair operators which have iron guts.”

Landfills are the final resort for carcasses due to problems with smells, animals digging in trash, and difficulties protecting the our bodies instantly, Theiner mentioned. Kansas officers are exploring whether or not extra cattle could possibly be composted at feedlots as an alternative, he mentioned.

The Kansas Division of Well being and Surroundings didn’t reply to questions.

Cactus Feeders, which says it handles 4% of U.S. fed cattle, despatched carcasses to the dump, as did Cobalt Cattle, Meade County Feeders and Irsik & Doll’s Sunbelt Feed Yard, division information present. The businesses, which fatten cows on grain earlier than slaughter, had no remark.

Grant County Feeders in Ulysses, Kansas, shipped carcasses to the landfill as a result of rendering crops had been full, mentioned Tom McDonald, an government with proprietor 5 Rivers Cattle Feeding – the world’s largest such firm which counts meatpacker JBS SA (JBSS3.SA) amongst its prospects.

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Cows that die of warmth stress should not processed into meat for human consumption however can usually be transformed into animal meals, fertilizer and different merchandise.

Shifting ahead, 5 Rivers will feed cattle much less grain, a high-energy ingredient, and extra hay and silage when temperatures rise to reduce their inside warmth, McDonald mentioned. The corporate just isn’t contemplating different steps like including shade, he mentioned, as a result of the mass deaths had been uncommon.

Cattle Empire, a feedyard in Satanta, Kansas that provides Tyson Meals (TSN.N), put carcasses in landfills and buried others in unlined pits with the mineral lime to interrupt down the our bodies sooner, veterinarian Tera Barnhardt mentioned.

Burying cattle in unlined pits is among the riskiest disposal strategies as a result of waste can seep into groundwater, mentioned Hannah Connor, senior lawyer for the Heart for Organic Variety.

Kansas permits unlined burials close to Cattle Empire as a result of the groundwater is deep down, Barnhardt mentioned.

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All advised, at the least 617 cattle had been buried by Cattle Empire, Friona Industries, NextGen Cattle and Clark County Feeders, state paperwork present.

Scorching, humid air gave the animals the sensation they had been suffocating, Barnhardt mentioned.

For cattle that survived, some are consuming in uncommon patterns that may diminish their capacity to achieve weight, veterinarians mentioned.

“Cattle are considerably nonetheless struggling,” Barnhardt mentioned. “We actually compromised them.”

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Reporting by Tom Polansek; Modifying by Caroline Stauffer and Invoice Berkrot

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.



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