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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
An Insect-based Dector of Bovine Manure Odors
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1997 | No Comments
Separation Distances for Swine Odor Control in Relation to Manure Nutrient Balances
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Odor control from swine facilities can be achieved by providing an adequate buffer zone or separation distance from neighbors. Such separation distance could be insured if appropriate nutrient balance is done considering the facility size, the type of animal and manure and the wastewater management system. The paper presents examples which include phosphorus and nitrogen nutrient balance consideration and the resulting minimum separation distances that would have to be insured.
This approach consider the nutrient balance in agricultural systems where the manure is used as fertilizer on the land surrounding the swine facilities considering that all the land needed is surrounding the facilities.
Odor and H2S Levels from Minnesota Pig Manure Storage Units.
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Considering the negative impact pig production can have on the neighbors by the odor emissions and also the concern in Minnesota associated with the state standard on H2S on ambient air (30 ppb for 1/2 hour not to be exceeded twice in 5 days or 50 ppb for 1/2 hour not to be exceeded twice in one year) a study was initiated (measurements done in the fall 1996 and the spring and summer 1997) to evaluate a variety of manure storage systems from around the state. The air samples collected in a floating “equilibrium” chamber were analyzed by a panel using and olfactometer to determine the odor concentration (odor units). and H2S measurements were done by a Jerome TM meter (for concentration lower than 20 ppm) and also using Sensidyne TM colorimetric detector tubes. The results collected from the different pig manure storage systems (40 in total divided into 4 types of storage: indoor deep pits (14), outdoor concrete/metal structures (8), earthen basins (14), and 2nd stage earthen basins (4)) did not show any advantage of a system over another when considering odor dilution thresholds and H2S concentrations. Variations seem to occur seasonally with odor levels higher in the spring and H2S concentrations higher in the fall. Further measurements will be done in 1997-1998 and more information will be available to help explain some variations.
This experiment will give valuable information about manure storage systems considering odor and H2S emissions and the possible seasonal variations. No system seems to present better performances but attention could be given to certain period of the year when the emissions are higher if some treatments or measures were to be consider for odor or H2S abatement.
European Interlaboratory Comparaison Olfactometry – Experiences and Results of a Participating Laboratory
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In 1992, at the demand of the European Committee for Standardization (Comite europeen de normalisation CEN) a working group was formed to develop a standard method to determine odour concentrations using dynamic olfactometry. Two years later a draft CEN Standard was presented and in 1995 the working group decided to validate these Standard by an international ringtest. In the summer 1996, 19 European participants realized olfactometry tests using the developed CEN Standard . The procedures of the ringtest are presented in the proceeding and n-butanol was used as odour source as its concentration can be measured and identical samples could be sent to the participant laboratories. The CEN Standard as the guideline VDI 3881 (Germany) provides precise description of the common olfactometric methods but it also gives quality requirements. Testing of all the elements of the Standard (dilution equipment calibration, panel selection and odour threshold measurement) was done in the “European Interlaboratory Comparison Olfactometry”.
Panel selection is an important part in the CEN Standard as it has an important impact in the results obtained.
Olfactometry is an important tool in the determination of odour intensity of a specific source particularly when the emissions are constituted of many different compounds which can’t be chemically analyzed as a whole and as the determination of the concentration of one or two components can’t give significant information of the odour level of the mix. However olfactometry is a complicated process and the results depend greatly in the respect of specific procedures. The CEN Standard were developed so the used of a standard method could allow comparisons between laboratories and in time. This method could then be used to compare or develop odour control methods, products or policies through out Europe and elsewhere if the Standard is used.
Pathogens Found in Water Contaminated by Manure
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As water is a necessity for both human and livestock, when contaminated water can have severe effects on the health of both. Important quantities of water can be contaminated as ill animals and humans can excrete large numbers of oocysts, bacteria or viruses. Different manure treatments can control and lower the pathogen load. Monitoring the water routinely on farms could help prevent disease transmission and all measures that prevent manure from contaminating water sources have to be taken.
This article is very general and unfortunately doesn’t make any links between swine production and specific water contamination cases or disease outbreak. The risks coming from swine production are real but this article doesn’t help evaluate them.
Emissions de methane au cours du stockage des dejections animales
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1996 | No Comments
The article and abstract are in french.
Methane is considered as one of the principal greenhouse gas. Among the potential methane sources coming from agriculture, the emissions resulting of anaerobic manure fermentation during storage can be considered as a specific source. Laboratory measurements were done to determine the carbon emissions (CH4, CO2) from stored swine manure. Two trials of 50 days each were realized on manure stored in a laboratory reactor and measurements were done using infra-red gas absorption technique. Direct measurements were compared to indirect evaluation by measurements of the diminution of the C concentration in the manure.Different ventilation regimes over the manure resulted in different levels of C losses that could reach 12,5% of the initial C content over the trial period compared to 5% for closed reactor. Different manure were tested to verify the variation in their C losses. The higher C losses were mesured for the raw manure with 18,9% and strained manure with 18,8%, lower C losses were observed with aerated manure. Of those C losses in the case of raw manure and strained manure the portion of CH4 of those losses was 60 % compred to 6% for the aerated manure. Slightly higher values for the C losses were obtained with the indirect measures with 20,8%, 23,4% and 5,1% respectively.
10 Steps to Complete a Nutrient Management Plan for Livestock & Poultry Manure.
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As plant nutrient are essential to assure a field productivity both manure and chemical fertilizers have to be used. Appropriate application rates and also time for application are important parameters to determine in order to obtain optimum crop yields with optimum nutrient quantities. Nutrient management is thus essential to assure optimal recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium by the crop while optimizing economic benefit and minimizing the impact on environment. 10 steps are given in order to achieve a good management plan and they are: 1. manure analysis; 2. soil analysis; 3. consideration of the nitrogen stocked in the soil from previous manure spreading or legume crops; 4. selection of proper spreading technique and time for the operations; 5. determination of application rates for specific fields; 6. selection of the supplemental fertilizers needed; 7. calibration of the spreader; 8. consideration of control measures to prevent erosion, surface runoff and tile drainage contamination; 9. handling and valorization of all the manure produced on the farm; 10. review of your nutrient management plan every years.
This factsheet provides useful information on manure management plan. The basics are given to understand the procedures. However the integration process between the manure analysis and the soil analysis is not presented and requires some knowledge and skill to be realized well and determine the application rates needed with the manure and with supplemental fertilizers.
Judicious Management of Swine Manure for Crop Production.
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As animal density has increased considerably in some regions in Quebec, surplus in animal excretion has been experienced for farms while considering nitrogen and phosphorus requirements estimated for crop production. Water quality problems (by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, high nitrogen and phosphorus contents) can result from high application rates of manure as the climate in Quebec is humid and water infiltration and runoff are frequent in the fall and the spring. Soils enrichment with copper and zinc can also cause problems as in a region of high production density, copper content varying from 1 to 12 mg/L has been measured in the water (Boyer River watershed) and the standard for drinking water is 1 mg/L. Even if the pig manure doesn’t provide much organic matter, the soil structure can be improved by an important microbial activity, using the carbon input from manure. Spring manure application and later fall application are the best time in order to optimize nutrients use by the crop and also limit the nutrient losses through runoff and leaching. As the fertilizing value of the manure is almost equivalent to mineral fertilizers value, manure is valuable and should be used optimally in order to limit the environmental impacts and odour nuisance associated with applying.
This article presents well the situation in Quebec associated with excessive manure application that has been done in some regions. Appropriate management of manure in crop production is the way of valorize manure.