Ontario to protect farmer's right to work in smelly, noisy settlings

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1997 | No Comments

The nuisances from farm practices (noise, odours, later night-noise, vibration, dust, lights from massive greenhouses) would be allowed by the legislation even if they disturb neighbors as proposed in a law introduced just before the summer break of the legislature. The legislation is made so the normal farming practices, bigger and more high-tech industry types than the ones rural non-farming residents would rather see, would be accepted without being subject to nuisances complaints or restrictive bylaws. Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve wants to protect and keep the farming industry an active and important sector of the Ontario economy. In case of dispute over nuisances between a municipality, or whoever and a farmer, the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board (NFPB) will act as a referee and establish what is the normal farm practice for that type of operation and if the operation is considered normal, the farmer will be allowed to continue his operations. The municipalities won’t be able to restrict farmers’ expansion if their operation are considered normal farming practice; a phenomena which is seen often in areas where there are urban expansions into rural areas. However this law is not a license to pollute. Also Villeneuve acknowledge that the conflicts over farm practices will not stop with this legislation particularly where the opposition is strong.

Depending on the structure around this law, the end results may vary. Concerns often comes from groups who fear for the environment and it is not clear what the normal farm practices will cover in that area. The members of the NFPB will have to come from different groups in order to be credible to as many groups and organizations as possible, particularly the opponents.

Deep Litter Fermentation Systems for Fattening Pigs (technical Improvements, Nutrient Balance)

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The performances obtained in swine production with a deep litter system were verified under Swiss conditions for fattening pigs. The experiment took place in a poorly isolated building that was naturally ventilated and could accomodate 160 fattening pigs. The experiment helped finding optimal parameters for the production system: sawdust bed of 45 to 50 cm, sawdust prefered over wood chips or straw, the horizontal spreading or the feces is more important than intensive vertical mixing, thorough mixing can be done only every other week, the amount of sawdust needed for the growing-fattening period is 1.2 kg/kg weight gain, the work load associated with such system is less than for partially slatted floors. The growth performances obtained were above average and this system is appropriate when considering the remodelling of existing buildings. Even if the nitrogen losses are more important for such system compared to conventional liquid manure systems, the overall nitrogen efficiency is higher.

The total nitrogen emissions under the form of ammonia and nitrous oxide are not presented. It is mentioned however that the N losses with deep litter are high in the building and as a result the nitrogen available to plants is smaller with this system, the total N losses with deep litter system being 76,6% compared to 49,5 % for slurry system (compared to N content of the manure entering the systems). No information in given on the handling systems used for partially slatted floor so it is difficult to understand how the deep litter system requires less labour.

Developing a Manure & Dead Animal Management Plan

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Several management systems are discussed for manure utilization and dead animals disposal for different types of livestock facilities. Basic informations are given on manure nutrients, sampling, crop requirements and manure application. Five acceptable methods for storage and disposal of dead animals are also discussed such as : rendering, burial, incineration, refrigeration and composting. The choice from one system to another belongs to the operator who has to consider environmental regulations, neighboring residences, economics and livestock facilities appearance.

Dietary Manipulation to Reduce Ammonia and Odorous Compounds in Excreta and Anaerobic Manure Storages

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The results of this study showed that diets with reduced crude protein and supplemented with essential amino acids lower significantly the total N excreted and the ammonia concentrations, and modified the concentration and ratio of specific volatile compounds in fresh manure. The measurements for the concentrations and emissions were done in a laboratory on fresh manure samples and samples stored to simulate anaerobic storage.

Evaluation of a Standard Sampling Method for Determination of Odour Emission from Animal Housing Systems and Calibration of the Dutch Pig Odour Unit into Standardised Odour Units

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In the Netherlands an odour research program was started to study odour from conventional housing systems and also new low ammonia systems using a new official odour measurement protocol. These measurements should give the basis for the integration of the new systems in the odour regulatory system. The results of the first year program are presented and emphasis is made on the new protocol and calibration of the Pig odour unit evaluation. The protocol evaluation was done for two conventional pig housing systems: fattening pigs (FP) and sows in individual stalls (SP) both on partly slatted floors and for each system four farms were chosen. The experimental design and analysis was done to obtain the variation between and within the farms and also the variation coming from the olfactometric measurements for both systems. The variations between-farm were 22% (for FP) and 2% (for SP) mean percentage deviations, the variation within-farm was 34% (FP) and 19% (SP) and the variation between duplicate samples were 16% (FP) and 23% (SP). For the FP system the odour emission geometric mean was 22.6 odour units/s per animal place for a ventilation rate of 33.3 m3/h per animal. The protocol used prescribes ten sampling days for the sampling of single farm and considering the estimated variation sources, the accuracy levels obtained are of 24.5% for FP and 8.1% for SP. Higher accuracy, 9.5% for FP and 6.7% for SP could be obtained with the same number of odour samples by taking one sample on 20 different farms. On conclusion, all variation sources should considered for each animal category before the protocol design of housing systems evaluation. The resulting sample strategies could then be different between animal categories.

When odor is regulated and controlled, standard protocols should be establish for odor determination of specific housing systems. Those protocols may be quite complex to establish because all variation sources have to be considered for all animal categories. For example, the growing stage in a fattening building will have an impact on those variations (beginning of the period vs. end of the period for all-in all-out).

Determination of the Odor Plume Boundaries from Animal Houses

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The well known methods that are used to measure the airborne pollutants cannot be used to evaluate odorants in the outdoor air. The German VDI-Guideline 3940 (Determination of Odorants in Ambient Air by Field Inspections) describe a method of measuring odorants in ambient air. The effect on human smell is directly measured with this method. A parameter measured is the “percentage odor time” and represent the frequency at which observers can recognize an odor in the outdoor air. Investigations that were done at dairy and cattle housing showed that representative results can be obtain with 10 plume measurements done during a year period to evaluate the distance at which the odor from a given livestock building can be recognized and “odor boundaries” can be defined. The odor boundaries measured are in general the same for the winter than for the summer. Different parameters have an influence on the intensity of substantial odor and they are: the topographic position of the livestock housing, the housing system, the fodder conservation and storage system and the manure system including the storage.

This publication is an practical example of application of the VDI 3940 for the determination of odor plume boundaries. The method and procedures used to evaluated the odor plume from a dairy and cattle housing are well presented and explained. This odor plume determination technique could be used for any livestock housing.
See: VDI 3940 31 p. Kommission Reinhaltung der Luft im VDI und DIN.

Final Report. "Evaluation of Commercial Manure Additives"

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8 additives (Bio Charge, Roebic Deod., Pit Boss, Shac, BIO-409, MS-4, Pit Shop’, Deo Odorase) have been tested during a nine month period on commercial scale in 8 farms in order to determine the impact of such additives on odour and ammonia reductions. Each of the 8 farms was paired with another identical production facility where no additive was used to be able to estimate the reduction obtained. A sampling procedure has been developed. Air sampling was realized in each building and olfactometry tests with a panel were performed within 24 hours. Ammonia and manure (analysis done: pH, total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) samplings were also realized. Pit Additive Reports give information on the testing site, the product application procedure, the product cost and the results obtained. For all 8 products tested, the cost of manure treatment was less than 0,95 CAN$ per hog produced. The results show a wide variability in the results for each products and also between the different farms used as control.
Products are difficult to compare between them as the testing sites were different, resulting in different conditions. The odour level and ammonia concentration were very variable between the control farm so an important odour reduction (in percentage) in a farm that had high odour emissions could be less important in another farm where odor were less of a problem (du to building design or management). No repetition of the testing has been done. Considering all these elements, this experiment don’t help in choosing one product over another.

Characterisation of air extracted from pig housing: effects of the presence of slurry and the ventilation rate.

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120 pigs fed the same diet (in 2 stages, growing and finishing) have been divided equally in 3 different groups for their growing-finishing stage and placed in 3 different rooms. In the room 1 the ventilation rate was 1500m3/h and the manure was stored under the slat during all the experiment, in the room 2 the ventilation rate was also 1500m3/h and the manure was removed every 40 days and in room 3 the ventilation rate was 750 m3/h and the manure was stored. Air samples were taken in the 3 rooms the day after the manure had been removed in the room 2 and were analyzed to evaluate the concentration of some odorants compounds (chemical analysis) and the odour emission (olfactometry). The nitrogen compounds were the main compound group identified in the analysis: ammonia, aldehydes and ketones were present at low concentrations. The analysis showed that the concentration of nitrogen compounds and aldehydes were lower for the room where the manure wasn’t stored under the slats. A reduction of 55% of the odor emission (odor rate) was measured when the manure is not stored for identical ventilation rates (room 2 vs. room 1). The room 3 was compared to room 1 (same manure management, half the ventilation rate in room 3 compare to room 1) showing that the ammonia and aldehydes concentration levels were lightly higher in room 3 and that the odor emission from room 3 was 29% lower than the one in room 1.

This experiment is interesting but no replicates were done to assure the validity of the results. Also it becomes a bit confusing because the results analysis are presented in term of concentrations for the chemical compounds and in term of production rate in term of odour which are 2 different things, the rate being the concentration multiplied by the ventilation rate. Even if the concentration is higher if the ventilation rate is low, the emission rate can be lower. The emissions in this case don’t give an exact information on the inside conditions.

Water Quality and Pollutant Concentrations on Paired Agricultural Watersheds in Quebec.

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In two small watershed (26,1 and 17,9 km2) in southwestern Quebec, hydrologic, climatologic and water quality parameters have been evaluated during a period of 3 years. In one of the watershed, an agronomist worked with the farmers to reduce the environmental impact of their practice on water and the other watershed was studied as an control or reference. The results showed that non point source pollution is the major problem in the watersheds and most water quality parameters were influenced with the precipitation pattern. Phosphorus and fecal coliforms where tow parameters that exceeded the water quality guidelines most frequently. Atrazine and metolachlor (pesticides) were also frequently detected. The data collected are very valuable toward a better understanding of watersheds and the dynamic of pollution on water quality. However most of the analysis has to be done to understand the effect of the measured parameters on the water quality of the watersheds and also to evaluate the impact of better management practices on the watershed. The database constructed with the information gather during the 3 years will be very valuable to develop and validate water quality models.

A lot of work has been done to gather information on water quality, hydrologic and climatic conditions on 2 watersheds. A lot of work needs to be done to analyze this information and make possible links with agricultural practices. The subsequent model development could help estimate management changes and could be a good prediction tool for the most promising practices to lower environmental impacts.

Description of a dynamic closed chamber for measuring soil respiration and its comparison with other techniques

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Soil respiration is an important component of the net carbon dioxide exchange between agricultural ecosystems and the atmosphere, and reliable estimates of soil respiration are required in carbon balance studies. Most of the field measurements of soil respiration reported in the literature have been made using alkali traps. The use of portable CO2 analysers in dynamic closed chamber
systems is recent. The introduction of this new technique requires its evaluation against existing methods in order to compare new information with older data. Nine intercomparisons between dynamic systems and alkali traps were made. Measurements of Fc,s obtained by both chambers showed a good agreement in all but two comparisons in which alkali trap measurements were lower
than the dynamic chamber by about 22%. This first report of agreement between both techniques suggests that many measurements made in the past using alkali traps may be comparable to the measurements made more recently using the dynamic chambers. Analysis of the soil temperature and CO2 concentration inside the alkali traps failed to explain why the alkali traps
occasionally underestimated the fluxes. Soil respiration measured with a dynamic closed chamber were also compared to eddycorrelation measurements. The results did not reveal any consistent bias between techniques but the scattering was large. This dispersion is likely the result of the difference between the areas measured by the two techniques.

La respiration du sol est un A