Large Animal Composter Grinds Up Carcasses LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous 29-5-29 When Dutch Industries engineers started working on a safe and inexpensive way for large hog operations to get rid of carcasses, they ended up with a design that resembles an oversize black funnel. In June, it won the outstanding new invention prize at the Western Canadian Farm Progress Show in Regina, Sask. The composter stands 10 3/4 ft. high and 8 1/2 ft. wide. It's equipped with a chain hoist that lifts carcasses into the funnel. A skid steer or front-end loader with a lift height of 11 ft. 4 in. can also be used to dump the carcass into the composter, says John Gibson, Dutch sales manager. Inside, metal teeth on a bar grind up the bones while some added straw or sawdust with a high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio breaks down the flesh. A 5 hp electric motor churns everything around a friction bar to aerate the funnel. Two electronic radiant heaters keep the temperature consistently between 130 and 155 degrees F. After about a week, compost comes out the bottom of the unit through a sealed door. "If you add 2,000 lbs. of dead animals and add 400 lbs. of straw, you can expect about 480 lbs. of compost after a week," Gibson says. "The compost will have between 8 and 11 lbs. of nitrogen per 2,000 lbs. of product," he says. With an operating cost of about $.015 per lb. of material including electricity and cost of the bulking agent, it's inexpensive to operate, Gibson says. Sells for $42,000 (Can.). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dutch Industries, 300 Portico Drive, P.O. Box 568, Pilot Butte, Sask. S0G 3Z0 Canada (ph 800 663-8824 or 306 781-4820; sales@dutchind .com; www.dutchind.com).

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