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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:
AFOPro: a nutrient management decision support system for the United States
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments
Evaluation of Phosphorus Transport in Surface Runoff from Packed Soil Boxes
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
A mathematical model for designing and sizing sow farms
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Livestock Pathogens: A Natural Occurrence
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All animals including pets, livestock and humans are hosts to various micro-organisms some of which may cause disease. Producers can manage germs and minimize their introduction into the food chain and environment by using good care and sound manure management practices. However, there are no animal production systems that can guarantee zero risk to both the environment and the public. Animal germs that are a natural occurrence that tends to stay within livestock populations. Most of the germs carried by animals are harmless to people. To minimize the transfer of pathogens from animals to people, proper food handling, sound manure management practices and good personal hygiene should be followed and observed.
Increasing Manure's Value Using a VRF Program
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From an engineering standpoint, site-specific manure application equipment is very similar to that used for variable rate application (VRA) of liquid fertilizer, but from a management standpoint, variable rate manure (VRM) is quite different from VRA of fertilizer. The goal of this article is to summarize the results of a recent study of the economics of site-specific manure application.
Using the site-specific crop responses to manure, the maximum net present value (NPV) of $607/acre is achieved with the VRM strategy, combined with a variable rate fertilizer (VRF) strategy. The next highest NPV, $605/acre, was achieved by the strategy which applies manure at a field specific optimal rate (WFM), combined with a VRF program, followed by the strategy which applies a uniform rate of manure at the extension recommendation rate of 3,500 gal./acre combined with VRF ($597/acre). Profit maximizing manure rates by zone vary from about 2,500 gal/acre to 8,000 gal/acre. Optimal manure rates are usually lower when some fertilizer is applied to complement the nutrients in manure.
Given the variability of the nutrient content of manure, it is difficult to argue that the VRM-VRF strategy is a better strategy than the WFM strategy combined with the VRF program. The WFM-VRF strategy results in an NPV that is only about $2/acre lower than the VRM-VRF approach. With good agitation and careful calibration, a uniform application of manure is a reasonable goal. With current technology, accurate VRA of manure quantity is possible, but it is difficult to control actual soil nutrients applied. VRF can be used to more economically and accurately manage soil variability.
Fate of veterinary antibiotics in a macroporous tile drained clay soil
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