Oregon's dairymen and meat processors have especially felt the pinch since last year, when the last two remaining rendering plants in the state closed, leaving growers with fewer practical options for disposing of cattle "mortalities" and byproducts.

Since then, livestock producers have generally relied on out-of-state rendering plants, upping the cost of disposal, as well as landfills, an undesirable solution that will only be available in the short term.

"What a waste. This is a resource, and we're dumping it in landfills," said Peter Bloome, project manager at Oregon Solutions, a community governance system established in 2001.

At a Sept. 11 meeting, Bloome's Oregon Solutions team submitted a final report to the Oregon Department of Agriculture on alternative animal waste and byproduct disposal technologies.

As it turns out, there's more than one way to make a dead cow disappear - and some methods may someday actually end up putting money in growers' pockets.

Source: CapitalPress