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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:
The fate of crop nutrients during digestion of swine manure in psychrophilic anaerobic sequencing batch reactors
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments
Identification of Odor Causing Compounds in a Commercial Dairy Farm
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Existing Nutritional Tools can Dramatically Reduce Swine Manure Phosphorus
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Pigs, like all other livestock species, require adequate amounts of dietary phosphorus to perform optimally. Nutrients, including phosphorus, consumed by animals in excess of what is required for growth and production are subsequently excreted from the body. High manure phosphorus content can be a problem, as it will increase the amount of land required to spread manure, especially as regulations change to focus more on phosphorus. Also, minimizing manure phosphorus will contribute towards efforts to safeguard surface water quality and reduced feed cost. Results of several research projects completed at the University of Manitoba and elsewhere show that dietary manipulations strategies could reduce total phosphorus content in swine manure by 50%. Included in this paper is a checklist of strategies you can implement on your farm to efficiently utilize phosphorus.
Ethanol Expansion in the United States: How Will the Agricultural Sector Adjust?
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Assessing the Impact of Cremating Farm Deadstock on Air Quality
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Deadstock disposal has been a hot topic in recent
years, mostly because of biosecurity concerns. Options for deadstock disposal in Ontario are currently
limited to rendering, composting and burial. Rendering is
a disposal method which now costs farmers money, rather
than providing a small source of income, as in previous
years. It is also becoming unpopular because of regulatory
restrictions.
As a result, farmers are eager to explore alternative disposal
methods for their dead livestock , especially on larger
operations where biosecurity is critical. Two methods rapidly
gaining popularity are composting and cremation.
Dr. Bill Van Heyst and graduate students Pat Linton and
Mike Thomson of the School of Engineering at the University
of Guelph have been studying the composting of deadstock,
an excellent disposal method if performed in a proper manner.
However, the emissions released during the composting
process need to be characterized to evaluate their impact
on the environment. Additionally, the nutrient availability in
the finished compost must be analyzed. The results indicate that, if best management practices
are implemented – such as the operation of a secondary
burner or after-burner at a prescribed temperature and
time – then the resulting environmental impacts are minimized.
“Upset conditions, such as frozen diesel lines, can
dramatically increase the emission of some toxic pollutants
such as dioxins and furans,” he notes.
The effect on N2O emissions of storage conditions and rapid incorporation of pig and cattle farmyard manure into tillage land
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The use of additional straw in animal housing and the rapid incorporation of manure into
tillage land have been recognised as potential techniques to reduce ammonia (NH3)
emissions. However, there is the potential for these management practices to increase
nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, i.e. ‘pollution swapping’. Emissions of N2O were monitored
during storage of either pig or cattle farmyard manure (FYM) and after application to tillage
land at two UK sites. Losses of N2O from conventionally stored pig and cattle FYM were
2.6% and 4.3% of the total-N into store, respectively. Following land spreading, N2O losses
ranged from o0.01% to 0.23% of total-N applied for stored manure, but up to 0.86% from
fresh pig FYM. There was no significant (probability P40.05) effect of extra straw use during
housing on N2O emissions following the spreading of pig and cattle FYM. No consistent
effect of FYM incorporation on N2O emissions was evident suggesting that rapid
incorporation (o4 h) can only reduce both N2O and NH3 losses under site specific
conditions. The results suggest that strategies to minimise N2O emissions from solid
manure management should focus on storage rather than land spreading, and that there is
a need to develop integrated manure management strategies to minimise ‘pollution
swapping’.
Improvement in post-treatment of digested swine wastewater
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