Carcass Pickup Program

The carcass pickup program and the carcass compost site primarily serve the east side of Madison County Conservatively this is 61 miles of country north to south. 83,200 acres conservatively are serviced by the carcass pickup program.

2020 saw a significant increase in the number of ranches and other individuals requesting the carcass pickup service.  Bad weather is still an issue for getting in and out of fields, corrals and the compost site itself. This sometimes adds hours onto a carcass run.  The trailer got stuck in drifts and had to be left at the compost site twice. Asking neighbors for help builds bonds, as long as “the ask” is not too much or too often.  Being able to unhook the trailer to get the truck unstuck is a bonus. 

MVRG purchased spill mats to help capture carcass fluids in the trailer.  The mats have no plastics in them so can be composted with the carcasses.

Ranchers and individuals can also haul their animals to the site for composting.

Norris Carcass Composting Site

The Compost Site is looking good.  We currently have four bunkers at different stages of composting.  We bought another semi trailer of wood chips this summer for reducing compaction in the compost piles.  Ranchers bring old hay and straw bales to the site for use in the compost along with cattle and horse manure from the Bar MZ Ranch corrals.  Steve Primm designed a roll off bin at the site this fall for composting chemically euthanized animals.  It is a metal, fully enclosed large container.  The final design and welding on it finished two weeks ago.  A hydraulic cylinder and hand pump will open and close the lid.  If this prototype works well, we will search for funding to build similar, smaller bins for placement throughout the local area for ranchers to place dead calves in during calving season. They will be emptied at the compost site at intervals. The onsite bin for euthanized animals will need final approval in 2021 at the state level before use.  No compost material has been spread or removed from the site since it began operations. The 2019 piles and some of the 2020 compost will be evaluated, screened, and remixed to begin new compost material in 2021.

In 2020 MVRG continued to advocate with Steve Primm for a carcass compost site on the west side of Madison County, which gained County Board of Health approval in July. MVRG is a vocal cheerleader of establishing a compost site on the Ruby side of the county. 

An unforeseen challenge of the programs is getting people to take tags out of cattle ears and pull shoes off horses.  It’s not easy getting those shoes off at the site…

Pile temperatures are logged weekly and can vary week to week with moisture lost from the wind.  The wind dries the piles out quickly if they are not heavily covered.  That is one thing the site has an abundance of. Wind.

We upgraded the access gates at the highway for easier access with regard to the wind blowing the double gates shut on vehicles and trailers. (Biggest gate stops I have ever seen.)

As a side note: The torch work, welding, and shared design of the roll off bin were performed by Jack Chater from the Harrison/Pony area.  His welding business, Metal Medics, operates out of a refurbished ambulance.  He graduated from high school last year and started his own company. He also designed, built and installed the gate stops.  We are helping young talented people build their businesses.

Outreach and Education

The Bozeman Chronicle ran an article on our carcass composting and pickup program for local efforts to reduce carnivore conflicts.

Western Landowners Alliance Conflict Reduction Consortium featured MVRG for a discussion on conflict prevention tools including our carcass pickup and carcass composting programs.

KBZK TV produced a feature news article on the Compost Site.  MSU, MVRG, 2 Madison County commissioners, the Bar MZ Ranch owner, and local ranchers met at the site for interviews. The feature aired on the Montana nightly news. 

We have business cards and kitchen fridge magnets advocating for the carcass removal and composting programs.  Word of mouth continues to build a strong local base as folks see their neighbors using the program and ask questions.  The Madison County commissioners are strong supporters of the programs.