SALEM — With Oregon supporting in-state meat processing, some lawmakers are turning their attention to the livestock parts that are left over.

If the state is successful in boosting meat production, they say it’s reasonable to consider adding value to the byproducts as well.

“One of the problems is we don’t have a rendering facility in Oregon,” said Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, noting that the last plant in Redmond closed more than 15 years ago.

Brock Smith has co-sponsored House Bill 2194, which allocates $4 million for rendering plant construction, and House Bill 2193, which directs state agencies to study waste processing alternatives.

Roughly half of each livestock carcass isn’t sold for human consumption but nonetheless has qualities suited for other products, said Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, the legislation’s co-sponsor.

The purpose of the twin bills is to overcome economic and regulatory hurdles that stand in the way of new rendering plants and similar facilities, he said.

For example, rancher Bill Hoyt of Cottage Grove, Ore., considered installing equipment that composts livestock waste into soil amendments.

At the time, buying and setting up such equipment would have cost about $75,000 and Hoyt was unable to find grant funding to help with the purchase.

Another possibility is to convert livestock byproducts into energy by using anaerobic digesters that produce methane from decaying waste, said Curtis Martin, a rancher in North Powder, Ore.

“There are multiple avenues for making it more efficient,” he said.

The rendering bills were spurred by recent efforts to increase slaughter of livestock for in-state consumption, since cattle and other animals are often shipped out-of-state for processing.

Supply disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic convinced lawmakers to revive the state’s meat inspection program, thus improving slaughter options for ranchers who sell directly to the public.

The program would allow meat from state-inspected facilities to be sold at retail throughout the state even if it’s not processed at a limited number of federally inspected slaughterhouses.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would make $10 million available for slaughterhouse upgrades after previously investing $2 million in such grants.

A bill that would exempt the on-farm slaughter of up to 1,000 rabbits has also passed the House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources and Water, which on Jan. 31 unanimously referred the legislation to a House floor vote.

As meat processing legislation bears fruit, it makes sense to begin considering similar investments in rendering capacity, Hoyt said. “The evidence is pretty strong we really need to do that.”