This Issue Paper provides a critical assessment of information available on methods of swine carcass disposal under routine and catastrophic conditions. The authors have focused on efficiency and effectiveness of available methods as well as potential animal health and environmental protection considerations. The paper addresses the four predominant methods of mortality disposal in commercial swine production–burial, incineration, rendering, and composting–and various alternative and nontraditional methods and technologies. Chair: Allen Harper, Virginia Tech Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Suffolk.

IP39, July 2008, 16 pp., Available free online and in print (fee for shipping/handling).