United States-New legislation will raise the price of animal feed.

UNITED STATES-WORTHINGTON — A new Food and Drug Administration rule that takes effect in late April will likely lead to higher costs for beef and dairy producers and require them to clearly mark animals for rendering that are 30 months of age or older. The rule was established as a precaution against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), otherwise known as mad cow disease.

Rendered cattle product ends up in numerous industries, from livestock feed and dog food to cosmetics, soaps and hand creams.

"We don’t want to take any chances of (BSE-infected material) getting into a food source," said Angie Raatz, of the Pipestone County Soil and Water Conservation District and a member of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Rendering Study Group steering committee.

Beginning April 27, rendering facilities will be required to remove the brain and spinal chord of all cattle ages 30 months and older if they plan to market the dry material as a feed ingredient. If the brain and spinal chord are not removed, the renderers will need to find new uses for the material.

At Central Bi-Products in Redwood Falls, which provides rendering service and dead animal pick-up in the region, a per-animal fee will be charged for cattle that are either 30 months of age or older, or whose age cannot be verified.

Larry Risty, director of marketing for Central Bi-Products, said they have built a new facility in Long Prairie to render all of the restricted animals.

"We were kind of hoping we would never have to use it," said Risty of the plant, which is nearly finished.

Expected to be operational by April 1, the plant will render only the ruminant animals that fall under the age and verification restrictions. Risty said the company is examining several different options to utilize the rendered product, from creating fertilizer and fuel to energy production.

"That’s for the rendered dry material," Risty said. "The fats we can use in the facility, itself, as a fuel to run the boilers."

At this time, Risty said it isn’t feasible for the plant to do the brain and spinal chord removal.

"Eventually, there may be equipment to make that work," he added.

At Darling International’s Blue Earth facility, which receives carcasses from Klarenbeek and Son Rendering in Luverne, a program has already been implemented requiring cattle producers to clearly mark animals that meet the restriction rule.

Allen Klarenbeek is a contract hauler for Darling and services Rock, Nobles, Pipestone and Murray counties, as well as portions of Cottonwood and Jackson counties. He said he isn’t planning at this time to charge cattle producers an extra fee for picking up the restricted cattle.

"(Producers) need to have the animals well marked," Klarenbeek said, adding that he is not allowed to take posted animals.

Raatz said that when the carcass disposal rule was first discussed, there was talk of discontinuing the on-site pick-up service.

"If we didn’t offer (pick-up), we feared that some cattle producers would leave the area," said Raatz. "Right now, there aren’t a lot of other options for people in this area. You have rendering as an option for disposal, incineration, which is cost prohibitive, and composting, (which) will be explored."

Mark Myers, chief operating officer for Darling International’s Des Moines, Iowa, office, said renderers have just a couple of options if they aren’t going to remove the brain and spinal chord from the restricted bovine carcasses.

"We can either not pick up cattle over 30 months or provide a service to the producer that we will haul them directly to the landfill," said Myers. "Specifically in Iowa (not picking up the animals) is not an option we’re considering."

The age restriction rule on rendered animals has been a topic of food safety discussion for the past seven or eight years, but few, if any, verified cases of BSE have been found in the U.S

That causes some renderers to wonder if the new rule is really necessary.

"We haven’t had a problem with cattle over 30 months in this country, and we haven’t found a direct correlation," said Risty. "We have been under the impression that the present rules have been working pretty good."

Myers agreed, saying, "We’ve already got a low incident rate — like nothing — the risk is minimal to begin with. It’s going to cause the producer groups a lot of … added costs."

At Central Bi-Products, implementation of the rule will mean additional documentation and extra fees. Beef and dairy producers will be required to sign a form, probably on a yearly basis, stating that any animal over 30 months of age will be clearly marked — most likely with an orange paint stick mark on the forehead of the cattle.

The extra fees are to make up for the additional cost to Central Bi-Products. Its Long Prairie facility is located about 100 miles north of Redwood Falls, which will mean extra transportation costs. In addition, Risty said they need to make up for the cost of building the facility.

"Also, the product that we get out of there, we’ll have to use the fat for boiler fuel and the rendered meat will go into fuel or a fertilizer source, and neither of them is close to the current value that it has as a livestock feed ingredient," said Risty.

Myers said Darling International will likely increase its charges as well to help cover the additional costs associated with carcass disposal.

Producers who send carcasses to Darling are also required to clearly mark their animals with an ’X’ if the animal is 30 months of age or older, or a ’U’ if the animal is under 30 months of age.

When an age isn’t known, Myers said Darling will have to do a dentition test, which will not only cost more money, but isn’t as accurate as age verification records.

"The burden of the rule falls on the renderer," Myers said. "It’s us that has to comply with the rule and support all of the documentation."