In Oregon, the possibility of more federal regulations and the decline in the value of meat and bone meal are just a few of the reasons that led Robert Assali to close Southern Oregon Tallow Company at the end of August. Just two months later, a second Oregon renderer, Redmond Tallow, also decided to call it quits.
Primarily servicing the southern Oregon and northern California beef industry for over 56 years, U.S. Department of Agriculture rules on dead animal disposal and a proposed Food and Drug Administration rule on banning specified risk materials from all animal feed have taken a toll on the small 13 employee batch operation Assali’s father, Igino, incorporated in 1950. Combined with some much needed plant improvements and the weakening value of the company’s finished product, Assali decided it was time to close up shop.
Southern Oregon Tallow is situated on 26 acres 10 miles north of Medford, OR, just outside the town of Eagle Point. Besides providing a valuable service for the region’s beef industry, the renderer also collected a vast amount of used cooking oil from the area’s restaurants. Assali said he has seen some change in this area during the past few years with the onslaught of small biodiesel producers in the state competing for the same used cooking oil. What he says restaurants often don’t understand, though, is that some biodiesel producers only want a certain amount of the commodity, leaving the restaurant to find a way to dispose of what isn’t collected.
Assali has no immediate plans for life after rendering, but will eventually sell off the company’s equipment. He said his one concern after his business closes is that his accounts are serviced properly. Assali has worked to ensure the area will continue to be serviced after Southern Oregon’s closure, transferring the grease collection to EC Restaurant Service in Harrisburg, OR, about 150 miles to the north. The bone and fat collection will be assumed by North State Rendering in Chico, CA, over 200 miles to the south.
While North State Rendering’s Chris Ottone doesn’t like to see any renderer close down, especially the small independent renderer, he is dedicated to expanding his service to include the area hit by the closure.
“It’s tough to be a little guy,” Ottone said. North State Rendering has a batch facility on 38 acres in an agriculture community about 190 miles south of the Oregon-California state line. The renderer already services a portion of the affected area, but the addition of Southern Oregon Tallow’s accounts will be a “substantial expansion,” according to Ottone. The 10,000-square-foot processing facility at North State Rendering is new after being rebuilt following a fire in 2003. And although he has offered deadstock collection to his new accounts, he doesn’t expect many takers due to the economics of transporting the animals over 200 miles to the plant.
Economics was a major factor in Redmond Tallow’s decision to close their doors by November 1, 2006. Martha Cacho, one of six family members who purchased the rendering company 36 years ago, said the escalating cost of doing business, the low value of rendered products, and the lack of support from customers to raise collection fees for a service all played a role in the company’s closure. She echoed Ottone’s sentiment.
“For the small renderer, it’s hard to survive,” Cacho commented. Located on 40 acres in central Oregon, about 180 miles northeast of Southern Oregon Tallow, Redmond Tallow collects restaurant grease, services the area stores and slaughterhouses, and provides deadstock collection. Cacho said EC Restaurant Service has agreed to service their grease customers also, but she has yet to find someone to take over their remaining customers. Her son, Carl, is willing to provide deadstock collection in the area, but has yet to find a proper disposal site, including the local landfill that will only agree to accept one or two animals.
“Isn’t it better for a landfill to take [deadstock] than to leave them out in the field?” Cacho asked in frustration.
But she isn’t the only one frustrated and looking for answers. The two rendering plant closures have left Oregon agricultural officials scrambling to find a solution to the impending dilemma of properly disposing of the state’s deadstock once taken care of by renderers. A coalition of affected industries including agriculture, counties, and state agencies are working together to resolve the problem.
“It’s a big problem for us in Oregon,” said Jerry Gardner, Oregon Department of Agriculture. “Somebody is going to have to help us.” He estimated the closure of Southern Oregon Tallow and Redmond Tallow will affect more than 100 million pounds of material per year.
California Heat Wave Takes Toll
A two-week heat wave in California from mid- to late-July took its toll on both the human and animal populations, stretching resources, including rendering plants in the state’s central valley, to the breaking point.
At least 132 Californians died during the scorching summer heat wave. Within the animal population, it is reported that 20,552 dairy cows, over 10,738 calves, 800,000 chickens, and 200,000 turkeys succumbed to the sometimes 110-plus degree temperatures.
California’s Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) lists rendering as the preferred method for deadstock disposal. But the few rendering plants still operating in the heart of the state can only handle so much material, and making matters worse was an interruption in service at Baker Commodities’ Kerman plant at the onslaught of the heat wave. That led CalEPA to issue an emergency waiver of current regulations for deadstock disposal one week into the heat wave, followed a few days later by eight valley counties adopting those animal disposal emergency guidelines. The emergency guidelines developed and approved in 2004 are intended to be used in either a state or local declaration of emergency. The guidelines provide for disposal in local landfills, by composting, or on-site burial (one county did not allow disposal in landfills). Only owners or certified deadstock haulers can transport carcasses to landfills.
While California’s livestock industry has seen growth over the years, the state’s rendering industry has seen a decline in the numbers of plants available to service the state’s animal agriculture. The most recent closure of Modesto Tallow in December 2005 raised concerns among the dairy industry that a situation like that suffered during the heat wave would someday arise – not enough rendering capacity to deal with a catastrophic amount of deadstock.
While renderers to the north helped ease some of the load, including Sacramento Rendering Company (SRC) who operates a transfer station in the central valley, oftentimes farmers would wait a few days before calling a renderer for collection.
“There were times that the heat was so bad that the animals were in no condition to transport so we had to take them to the local landfill,” commented SRC President Michael P. Koewler.
While the situation had returned to normal by August with cooler temperatures, animal industries, renderers, and state agricultural officials are dedicated to come up with a solution to ease any future scenarios of an abundance of deadstock that need proper disposal.
“The state is very concerned and has been proactive in this situation,” stated Koewler. “They recognize the disposal situation is more than a rendering problem, it’s everyone’s problem.”
The California Poultry Federation (CPF) also had praise for California’s reaction to the crisis, but emphasized that action is needed to address the decline in rendering capacity.
“Thank God the state reacted magnificently along with the ag commissioners and opened the landfills,” CPF President Bill Mattos told a state news agency. “Not only are dead animals being affected, but you have all the offal from processing facilities and all the oil coming from restaurants. It’s huge.
“You can’t keep dumping this into landfills forever and ever,” Mattos continued. “Something has to be done to allow renderers to expand.”
Dennis Luckey, executive vice president for Baker Commodities, said the company has expansion plans in place that will enable their Kerman facility to handle fluctuations in raw material volume and allow for improved processing efficiency.
“Expansion plans have been submitted to the various agencies and are awaiting approval,” Luckey stated.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is also concerned about the state’s deadstock disposal and rendering crisis, touring a dairy producer and participating in a roundtable discussion with agricultural leaders, farmers, and producers following the heat wave.
“We talked about the rendering situation and the need to have a long-term solution,” said dairy farmer Steve Nash. “He absolutely understands the need to deal with this on a long-term basis.”
Newsline - October 2006 Render