Status survey of the occurrence, disposal and recycling of livestock carcass in Korea

This study conducted a status survey on livestock carcasses' occurrence and disposal by livestock species in Korea for livestock farms, slaughterhouses, and private disposal facilities. The annual amount of livestock carcass in Korea is 158,000 tons, and the mortality rate by livestock species is 2.4% for beef cattle, 4.8% for dairy cattle, 19.9% for swine, 6.7% for broilers, 4.9% for layers, and 3.8% for ducks. Most of the livestock carcasses generated are buried or composted on the farm. As the number of dead livestock is expected to increase steadily, a management system for the occurrence of livestock carcasses and storage-disposal-recycle is urgent to establish.