Region President Charlie Beard, National By-Products, opened the meeting commenting that, “It seems like every two to three years we have a new issue to deal with.” He added that, “It appears avian influenza [AI] is doing the very same thing BSE [bovine spongiform encephalopathy] did,” with regards to concerns among consumers and government. Beard continued by saying that every new disease brings new challenges for the rendering industry, including hauling and plant security. He encouraged renderers to be proactive and educate local and national government personnel on rendering.
“You are the experts,” Beard stated.
NRA Chairman David Kaluzny, Kaluzny Bros., believes some pressure to change the feed rule has been lifted off the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to foreign markets beginning to open for beef exports.
“Let’s face it, cattle is king compared to rendering,” he commented. “Meat sales overseas command more attention than meat and bone meal sales in the United States.” Kaluzny added that AI has taken BSE off the front page of newspapers, which further relieves the pressure on government, and pointed out that renderers are moving rapidly into a new age of energy and a new set of economic rules for rendered products. Along with tax credits for biodiesel that encourages the use of rendered fats and oils comes an increase in soybean crushing facilities, meaning more competition for meat and bone meal. And ethanol plants “are popping up like weeds in the corn belt,” he continued, providing more competition from dried distillers grains (DDG).
“There is a residual fat in the DDG from ethanol production,” Kaluzny explained. “Think of it – 10 years ago no one had even heard of DDG.” He provided a glimpse into the possible future of rendered products, with some markets expanding and others contracting.
“Bottom line, things are going to be different,” Kaluzny stated. “But at the same time, it will be exciting.”
Alex Avery, Center for Global Food Issues, said world affluence is growing faster and will have a greater influence on agriculture than the number of people because the world’s population growth has slowed considerably. Predictions are that by 2050, there will be 8.5 to 9.5 billion people in the world, compared to 6.3 billion people currently. Avery commented that because of the growing affluence, consumers will want better diets that consist of eggs, dairy products, and meat products. As an example, China has more than doubled its meat consumption in the past 10 years, although the amount is only half of the animal proteins that Americans eat. He said the only two ways to meet these growing demands are more land or more food per acre, and campaigns against modern farming and trade barriers are obstacles to overcome.
Avery was somewhat pessimistic about biodiesel, commenting that biofuels will be more negative than positive for the rendering industry, primarily because of the competition for animal/livestock feeds. He said public support for rendering will remain a major hurdle due to the public’s image on water quality, food safety, the humaneness of the industry, and the recent organic obsession of the public.
Switching gears was Brett Tarkington, Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, who addressed hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an invisible gas produced during the natural or intentional decomposition of organic matter. He explained that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set exposure limits but could enforce the lower limits set by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), which is proposing to reduce the limits even further that would be harder to achieve in most rendering plants. OSHA’s short-term exposure limit is 20 parts per million (ppm) while ACGIH’s short-term exposure limit is 15 ppm, and is proposing to reduce it to five ppm. ACGIH also has an eight-hour time weight average limit of 10 ppm (OSHA has no limit) and is proposing to reduce it to one ppm.
Tarkington said H2S is metabolized in the body very rapidly at low levels, but employees who have been exposed and suffer other than minor eye and throat irritation should be taken to the hospital or physician for evaluation.
Paul Barton, Tarkington’s colleague, described how to minimize and detect exposure of H2S. He said the typical sources of H2S in a rendering plant are from blood, meat, offal, feathers, hair, wastewater/sludge, and equipment that is used to transport, store, and process the materials, particularly in confined spaces. Keeping waste handling equipment clean and operational, and not allowing liquids to drain onto the floor will help keep H2S limits down. For detecting H2S, there are integrated air sampling and real-time air monitoring equipment, available in both stationary or permanent, and personal monitors.
Mark Lies, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, provided information on employment laws, including ensuring that supervisors are properly trained on company policies, state and federal employment laws, and that they document employee discipline. Lies said a growing area of liability is in determining who is an employee, which often covers on-site contractors, subcontractors, and leased and borrowed employees.
“We have to be thinking beyond our own employees,” he stated. Lies provided guidance on how to establish unavoidable employee misconduct and look for unanticipated hazards.
“Don’t get too comfortable in the workplace,” he reminded. When it comes to OSHA inspections, Lies said the employee/employer has the right to refuse to talk to OSHA and that lying can lead to a possible 10-year jail term. He briefly discussed AI, with the primary concern being the potential human-to-human transmission through coughing, breathing, or contact with contaminated items.
Chuck Neece, FUMPA Biofuels, warned renderers who collect used cooking oil that they will face increased competition from biodiesel producers who collect used cooking oil from restaurants for free to use in their production. He said that biodiesel is a chemically changed molecule, not “filtered grease,” and that concerns among the biodiesel industry are producers who sometimes dispose of the by-products improperly and producers who make an inferior biodiesel.
“Nothing frightens me more than backyard producers,” Neece commented. “I want to make sure that everyone out there is following the [biodiesel] guidelines.”
Animal disease was revisited by Ty Vannieuwenhoven, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), who commented that the United States has a passive foreign animal disease surveillance system that relies on others to detect and report animal diseases. About 400 investigations are conducted each year. He said carcass disposal in any animal disease outbreak is a major challenge and that APHIS wants to have all its options available, including burial, incineration, and rendering. Vannieuwenhoven said preparedness activities for renderers desired by APHIS include identifying renderers willing to participate in animal disease disposal; identifying locations of participating plants, especially across state borders; identifying capacity; identifying transportation capability; identifying animals that can be rendered at each plant; and determining biosecurity capabilities. He advised those willing to assist to get involved in the state planning process, since most of the preparation is done at this level.
When asked about indemnity, Vannieuwenhoven explained that the government pays 100 percent of operational costs of disposing depopulated animals and negotiates with the farmer on replacement costs of the animal. Concerns voiced by renderers in attendance ranged from what can be done with the finished product processed from condemned raw material in the marketplace, or whether they will be compensated for the material if it is landfilled, to what government agencies will require renderers to do to their facilities once condemned material is processed, such as stringent clean-out or plant shut down.
The second day of the convention focused on business issues, beginning with NRA President Tom Cook recapping the USDA enhanced BSE surveillance program. Over 730,000 animals have been tested in the past two years with only two indigenous cases found, which are now coming into question as to the type of strain. The government is keeping the program at the accelerated level for now, at a cost of $1 million a week, due to trade issues, but hopes to eventually go back to a maintenance level of about 40,000 animals per year.
Dr. David Meeker, vice president, NRA Scientific Services, commented that despite some allied industries “caving” to FDA regarding the proposed changes to the feed rule if it will help international trade, NRA has stayed firm that science shows no change is necessary. He said that although USDA is now calling the two indigenous cases “atypical” and could not connect them to meat and bone meal, they are still being treated as normal strains.
Meeker reminded renderers about the Animal Protein Producers Industry Code of Practice certification. To date, eight plants have been certified with one integrated renderer working on getting every plant certified because they believe it is important to their export markets.
Dr. Sergio Nates, president, Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, said that 17 research projects covering an array of products and markets are in progress, including one each in China, Canada, Chile, and Brazil, and the foundation is calling for research proposals for their fall meeting in October.
During the central region business meeting, members voted to honor Joe Baka, president, Mendota Agri-Products, with a lifetime membership upon learning of his impending retirement.
The region’s next convention is June 6-8, 2007, in La Crosse, WI.
August 2006 Render