PERRY, Ill. — University of Illinois Extension will offer a unique workshop for livestock producers who use, or are considering, mortality composting. The Animal Mortality Composting Workshop will be held on Friday, November 3, 2017 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Orr Agricultural Center near Perry, IL.
“This workshop gives livestock producers the opportunity to visit a demonstration composting site and talk with a variety of experts on mortality composting,” said Neslihan Akdeniz, a clinical professor with the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) at Illinois and a member of the Illinois Extension Livestock Facilities and Manure Management team.
The workshop begins at 9:30 a.m. at John Wood Community College Agricultural Education Center. The morning session will include several presentations on different aspects of carcass composting including new technologies available to help producers. Ted Funk, professor emeritus in ABE, will discuss general requirements for successful on-farm mortality composting. This will include a range of options to ensure regulatory compliance. Dr. Akdeniz will explain how to manage and put biological process in composting to work for an efficient, nuisance free mortality system. Matt Robert, Natural Resources Conservation Service engineer, will talk about facility designs NRCS supports and management requirements for the resulting systems.
In the afternoon, the workshop will move to the U of I Orr Research Center, where attendees will rotate through three demonstration stations. Discussions and demonstrations will include moisture control, selection and mixing of a carbon source, measuring temperature in the compost, and site specific design. “We will conclude the day by turning a compost pile that has already gone through a full heat cycle so that producers can see when they should turn a pile and what it should look like,” according to Stanley Solomon, U of I Extension educator
Bio-security concerns for pork producers have been addressed through the use of poultry as the compost protein source. Other precautions will be implemented at the farm as well.
Exhibitors have been invited representing builders, composting equipment suppliers, and service providers. Attendees will have opportunities to visit with the vendors and exhibitors during and after the program.
Registration is online at the Illinois Extension Livestock Facilities and Manure Management website. http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lfmm. Registration is limited and closes on October 26. There is a $25 fee for the first registrant and $10 for any additional persons from the same farm. Registration includes lunch for each attendee and a heavy-duty thermometer (for each farm represented) to use in composting. Spanish translation will be available on site.
The workshop is sponsored by Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Soybean Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and University of Illinois Extension. For more information contact Dr. Akdeniz at (217) 300-2644 or Stanley Solomon at (815) 235-4125.
— University of Illinois Extension
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