Dead stock, show animals and cremation in Amarillo
A dead cow can't wait long, but you still have a choice. Here's how rendering, composting, burial and private cremation compare for farms and families in Amarillo, and what each one costs per head.
- Costs per head for every route
- Burial and composting rules in plain English
- Private cremation for show and family animals
Amarillo, Texas
Who calls us from Amarillo, and what they usually need
Amarillo sits in the middle of some of the biggest cattle country in the United States, with feedyards, ranches and wheat farms stretching in every direction, and the city is home to the national headquarters of the American Quarter Horse breed. Many families keep horses, roping steers, goats or 4-H animals on acreage just outside town. For a large animal, be ready to pass on clear directions, gate width and road conditions.
Panhandle distances are the main challenge for large-animal aftercare. A ranch may be an hour or more from the nearest provider on caliche roads, and facilities that can take a full-size horse are few and far apart. Summer heat means a horse or cow should be shaded and collected the same day if possible, while blizzards can close roads for days. Ask about collection and distance before you need it.
Some public landfills around Amarillo accept animal carcasses, usually by appointment and charged by weight, and a few will take whole cattle. Policies differ from site to site and can change after a disease scare, so phone the scale house rather than trusting a web page. Ask about opening hours, notice, how a heavy animal gets unloaded and whether drug-euthanized animals are accepted. Where it works, a landfill is a sensible fallback when no renderer can come.
Amarillo is home to about 205,130 people, the 17th-largest of the 325 Texas communities we cover.
For a second opinion on price, Plainview (71 miles), Clovis (94 miles) and Lubbock (114 miles) are close enough that their providers cover Amarillo routinely. Two written quotes tell you more than any price list.
55.7%[1]
The NFDA projected Texas's cremation rate at 55.7% for 2024.
$600-$1,000[2]
Cremating a 1,000-pound horse was reported to cost about $600-$1,000, depending on location and the price of propane.
3-5% of body weight[3]
Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight.
Where these figures come from: Embrace Pet Insurance and Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension).
Tradition, practicality and the animals that mattered
About 55.7%[1] of people in Texas are cremated, a figure that has been climbing for years while burial still has deep roots. You'll see both traditions on farms too. Some families bury a favorite cow at the edge of the pasture where she grazed; others choose cremation so the ashes can move with them. For production animals, the choice usually comes down to cost, soil and what the renderer will take.
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) is where the Texas figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in Amarillo tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
What the seasons mean for dead stock in Amarillo
Around Amarillo, burial is often seasonal. It can be done in late spring and autumn when the ground is workable and dry, but it's harder in January, February and December and unpleasant in the heat of July. Some families with a show or family animal choose cremation whatever the season, then bury or scatter the ashes on the farm when the weather suits.
Around Amarillo, the calendar sets the pace: in July you have hours to act, and in January, February and December you may have days but no diggable ground. Many producers here keep two routes on file for that reason, a summer collector and a compost pile or a winter-accessible renderer for the cold months. Show families can plan the same way, booking a crematory pickup quickly in summer and allowing for snow delays in winter.
Comparing the cost of each route in Amarillo
Per pound, the routes line up clearly. Rendering works out to roughly $0.14, composting about $0.23[4] and incineration about $0.75, according to extension figures, while private cremation sits near $0.80/lb[5] of body weight at midpoint horse prices. For a 1,200 lb steer in Amarillo, that's the difference between a modest call-out fee and a bill in the high hundreds. It helps to weigh those numbers against the animal itself: the average cow or calf lost in 2015 was worth about $997 per head[6].
Prices for Amarillo track the wider Texas market, so use the Texas price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
Free tool
Livestock mortality planner
Plan disposal capacity and costs for farm losses, from one animal to a herd.
Burial, composting and deadlines in Texas
You don't need a permit to call a renderer or a crematory, but burial, composting and burning are where rules bite. In Texas, check depth, cover and setbacks from wells, creeks and property lines, plus any limit on how many animals can go in one site. Open burning of carcasses is illegal in most places. Counties, councils and water authorities can add their own conditions on top.
To find your county or city office in Texas, start with the official Texas local government directory.
There is no national rule for a dead animal on a US farm; each state's agriculture department or board of animal health writes its own. The common thread is a deadline, typically 24-72 hours[7], and a shrinking list of places with a renderer, roughly 50%[8] of states. In Amarillo that means checking early whether a truck still runs, because if it doesn't, the choice narrows to composting, burial where the state permits it, or cremation.
We keep Texas's burial and scattering rules in one place: the Texas rules summary. Before a home burial in Amarillo, also ask the city whether local ordinances add anything.
Your first moves after finding a dead animal
- Tell the show office and the show vet at once. They'll have a procedure and may need to record the death.
- Ask them to hold off before their usual contractor removes the animal, if your family might want a private cremation.
- Call home and decide together, all the more so when the animal was a young person's project.
- Keep the halter, tag, banner and exhibitor card, and photograph the pen card before the stall is cleared.
- Arrange transport: the crematory can pick up at the showgrounds, or, if the organizers agree, you can haul the animal there yourself in your trailer.
- Talk to the club leader or ag teacher so the project record can be handled in a way that honors the whole year the young person put in.
Ways to honor an animal that earned its place
On Panhandle ranches, burial on the property is still common for horses and cattle, and commercial livestock usually goes through rendering. For a family horse, a champion roping mount or a 4-H animal that became a pet, individual cremation with ashes returned is an option many families don't realize they have. Tell us which situation fits and we'll look at what's realistic for your location.
use the free tools before you ring anyone, or compare your instinct with the poll results, read our guides and latest articles, The services page is the place to compare what is included. More local pages: Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso and Houston, the Texas overview and every city in the United States.
Reader polls
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Free tools to help you plan
Livestock mortality planner
Plan disposal capacity and costs for farm losses, from one animal to a herd.
Urn size calculator
Find the urn volume you need from your pet's weight, plus keepsake and sharing options.
Horse aftercare cost comparison
Compare equine cremation, burial, rendering and composting side by side.
Questions people ask
Why does the Amarillo page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 55.7%[1] of Texas residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Amarillo?
The closest communities we cover are Plainview (about 71 miles), Clovis (about 94 miles) and Lubbock (about 114 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Amarillo too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
How does Amarillo's weather affect animal aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Amarillo, with average highs around 93°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
Who can dig a burial pit near Amarillo?
Local excavation contractors, neighbors with a backhoe and sometimes the county road crew after a large loss. Mass trenches for large animals typically run 4-8 ft deep[9], so it's a machine job. Ask for an hourly rate plus trip charge, and check the site against depth and water-setback rules before the digger arrives.
What should I do if several animals die at once?
Keep the rest of the herd or flock away, don't move the carcasses off the farm, and call your vet the same day. Sudden multiple deaths can mean a reportable disease, poisoning or heat stress, and the answer changes how disposal must be done. If disease is confirmed, animal health officials usually decide the method and may help with capacity.
Can I get my show steer's ashes back?
Yes, if you arrange a private cremation with a provider that can handle large animals. The steer is cremated alone and the ashes are returned, usually in a container you choose. Make that call before any dead-stock pickup is booked, because rendering can't be undone. Save the halter, ear tag and a lock of tail hair first.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] The NFDA projected Texas's cremation rate at 55.7% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [2] Cremating a 1,000-pound horse was reported to cost about $600-$1,000, depending on location and the price of propane. Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension) - Horse Disposal Options, 2019, 2019.
- [3] Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight. Embrace Pet Insurance - Bury or Cremate Your Dog? Costs, Pros & Cons, 2025.
- [4] Horse rendering costs about $0.14 per pound and composting about $0.23 per pound, both well below incineration at $0.75 per pound, and composting is comparable to a biodigester at $0.25 per pound. Our estimate: $275 / 1,200 lb (composting); $137.50 / 1,000 lb (rendering); $0.25 and $0.75 per lb from extension. How we calculate.
- [5] Midpoint horse cremation cost works out to about $0.80 per pound of body weight, versus about $0.14 per pound for rendering pickup and $0.23 per pound for on-farm composting. Our estimate: cremation $800 / 1,000 lb; rendering $137.50 / 1,000 lb; composting $275 / 1,200 lb. How we calculate.
- [6] The average value lost per dead cow or calf in 2015 was about $997. Our estimate: $3.87 billion / 3.88 million head. How we calculate.
- [7] State rules commonly require dead animals to be buried within 24 to 72 hours of death, especially when euthanized. Cornell Waste Management Institute & Penn State - Horse Mortality: Carcass Disposal Alternatives (2012), 2012.
- [8] Only about 50% of U.S. states have rendering plants, most of them concentrated in the Midwest. Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension) - Horse Disposal Options, 2019, 2019.
- [9] Mass-burial trenches for large animals are typically 4-8 feet deep and about 6 feet wide, and compost sites should be at least 300 feet from bodies of water. USDA APHIS / Center for Food Security and Public Health (Iowa State) - Disposal: Composting, Rendering & Burial handout, based on NAHEMS Disposal Guidelines (2012), 2012.
Find who can take a large animal in Amarillo
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