The role of insect succession in composted and non-composted beef cadavers

Commercial livestock facilities are faced with the challenge of disposing of a significant number of cadavers at their facilities each year.  One increasingly popular way of dealing with excessive amounts of dead animals is composting.  The cadavers are buried in carefully selected media creating a barrier between the dead tissue and the surrounding environment.  Dead tissue can release compounds that not only contaminate the soil environment but also the groundwater and nearby surface water.  Arthropods and microbes aid significantly in the decomposition of exposed animal cadavers.  Animal mortality compost is designed to facilitate decomposition without the aid of carrion feeding insects and risk of common pathogens associated with animal waste and dead tissue.  Significant differences in insect activity associated with an exposed vs. composted animal were observed.  Specifically, filth flies that can serve as mechanical vectors of important human pathogens were substantially lower at the composted site.   Implementing composting programs at livestock facilities could reduce the risk of flies spreading harmful pathogens such as E. coli to surrounding areas including farms that grow fresh produce.