What Is a Body Farm?
A body farm is a facility used by doctors, scientists and law enforcement personnel to study how human bodies decompose in a variety of settings. There are four facilities in the United States, all of them part of a medical school.
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University of Tennessee body farm
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The first body farm was created by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1981. The facility is made up of a plot of land, partially wooded, that allows scientists to leave bodies outside. Studies are done about how weather and insects affect corpses.
Texas State University body farm
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In 2008, Texas State University opened a body farm of around 7 acres in San Marcos, Texas. Among the unique aspects of the body farm is its population of vultures that are attracted to the bodies there. These effects are now studied by school scientists.
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Sam Houston State University body farm
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In 2006, Sam Houston State University opened a body farm near the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas. Using donor bodies, the body farm studies decomposition, but also the effects on bodies of the summer heat in Huntsville, Texas.
Western Carolina University body farm
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One of the smaller body farms, Western Carolina's facility can study just a few bodies at a time. Bodies at Western Carolina are used to help train cadaver dogs.
How do they get the bodies?
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The University of Tennessee site started with bodies that went unclaimed at the state medical examiner's office. Since then, the Tennessee sites and others welcome people who donate their bodies to the body farm. Tennessee's body farm gets more than 100 donations a year.
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