Some collectors have felt it necessary to introduce or increase fees for pick-up services to offset their financial losses. The following article outlines why fees are being charged, the legal responsibility for deadstock disposal, the appropriate disposal methods and where to go to obtain more information. In the past, deadstock removal services were generally available at no cost to livestock producers. However, deadstock dealers, like many of the farmers they serve, are currently facing economic problems.
Figures show that across the board incomes in the deadstock business are down.
Dealers normally earn revenue from the sales of animal hides, meat, bones and by-products. They attribute the drop in profits and negative business margins to low prices and low demand for those products. Cow hides currently sell for less than a third of the 1996 price, and there is simply no market for rendered products, which can be replaced by other commodities whose prices are also severely depressed, such as soybean and palm oil. The price of deadstock meat is stable, but the products sold for use in pet food don't bring in enough money to offset losses in the other by-products. The depressed market for rendered products will likely continue.