Regional Nutrient Balances

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments

A nutrient balance model was developed for the Municipalities of Hanover, La Broquerie, Roland and Sifton in Manitoba. The model tracks and estimates all nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous) inputs, outputs, and losses to the environment for the agricultural industry. The objectives of this study were to: evaluate the reliability of such a model at both the municipal and farm levels; determine gaps in the knowledge base necessary to implement a nutrient balance model as a planning or regulatory tool; and to provide a preliminary assessment of the nutrient balance in four municipalities that represent a matrix of high and low density crop and livestock production. Four farms in each of the four municipalities were also used to evaluate the budget model. The purpose of these farm budgets was to further test and evaluate the many estimates of nutrient losses that naturally occur in the nitrogen and phosphorous cycles. An extensive literature review was conducted to review previous work on nutrient budgets. The nutrient flows in an agricultural ecosystem, including inputs, outputs, transfers and losses from the plant, animal and soil pools were investigated. The literature review focused primarily on the central-northern Great Plains area of North America to ensure that the data would be applicable to soil and climate characteristics of Manitoba. Considerable data for the municipal model was obtained from the 2001 Census of Agriculture, Manitoba Crop Insurance Corporation records, and a proprietary spatial Grain Flow Model developed by Warkentine and Associates, a local consultant with specialized expertise in the analysis of grain flows in Western Canada. Primary data for the farm-scale budgets was provided by the cooperating farmers. Extensive interviews were also conducted with fertilizer dealers to verify current fertilizer practices by crop producers in Manitoba. The study found that in areas such as Hanover and La Broquerie, which have a significant intensive livestock industry, the importation of large quantities of nutrients in feed is contributing to a build-up of nutrients in the soil on a regional basis. Manure, however, is not the only source of nutrients that must be considered. The farm case studies confirmed previous studies indicating an excessive buildup of nutrients in soils from the over-application of chemical fertilizers is common. Notwithstanding the apparent increase in nutrients in these municipalities due to manure, the environmental risks to water resources may not have increased proportionally. The literature review found that the loss of nutrients from fields receiving inorganic fertilizers can be greater than fields receiving manure. Both sources and transport factors have to be considered in assessing transport risk. Better farm management practices are needed to prevent a build-up of available soil nutrients, regardless of the source of crop nutrients and the size of the farm unit. Regulations to address this issue should be consistent with this principle. Annual soil testing, for example, is practiced by approximately ten percent of producers on approximately one-quarter of their fields in any one year. The losses of nitrogen and phosphorous to the environment comprise a significant component of the nutrient cycle. Nitrogen losses were equivalent to 35 to 79 percent of outputs, and phosphorous losses were between two and 16 percent of outputs. Some loss of nutrients is a natural part of the nutrient cycle. Further research is necessary to quantify the various losses under a

The influence of earthworm-processed pig manure on the growth and productivity of marigolds

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An overview of land application of pig effluent-P using soil P chemistry and mass balance calculations

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Feasibility study for concrete swine buildings and manure storage facilities in Western Canada

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A feasibility study has been completed to evaluate the potential of concrete swine buildings and manure storage facilities in the Prairie region. Three building concepts combined with four manure storage options have been studied. A building with concrete walls and wood truss roof would increase concrete usage by 25% compared to a conventional wood frame building. The various combinations of building and manure storage concepts were evaluated for their effect on annualized building costs. The result of this evaluation either decreased annualized building cost by 16% or increased it by up to 34%. A swine facility design with concrete walls and concrete manure tanks is the most promising option for enhancing the life cycle and reducing the annualized cost of production facilities. Supplemental information should be gathered about the design and cost of swine buildings with concrete walls considering construction techniques and local availability and pricing of concrete in the Prairies.

Prediction of intramuscular fat percentage in live swine using real-time ultrasound

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Effect of transport time on welfare and meat quality in pigs.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of transport duration on some welfare and meat quality parameters. One hundred and forty four pigs were used. Half of the animals were subjected to 15 min and the others to 3 h transport time. Blood from all animals was analyzed in order to detect stress-susceptible pigs and assess pre-slaughter stress. Meat quality parameters, such as pH, water holding capacity, grade, were measured or assessed. It was concluded that under normal Spanish commercial conditions, pigs subjected to short transport showed a more intense stress response and poor meat quality than pigs subjected moderately long transport when they were immediately slaughtered on arrival at the slaughterhouse. Transport of 3 h might have allowed the animals to adapt to transport conditions and then could act as a resting period like a lairage time. The effect of transport time on welfare and meat quality parameters was more important than genotype and sex. Nevertheless, from the point of view of blood enzyme activities, genetically stress susceptible females transported for 3 h were more sensitive to muscles damage.

Maternal presence limits the effects of early bottle feeding and petting on lambs' socialization to the stockperson

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Herbivores that are raised by their mother tend to be more fearful of humans than those that are reared artificially. In previous studies, the effect of the human behaviour has been confounded by the rearing and maternal environment. This experiment examined the socialization of the lamb to the stockperson when the lambs were petted and bottle fed by humans, early in life, in the presence or absence of the dam. From one day of age until seven weeks of age (weaning), the lambs were either reared individually in the presence of the dam and their twin was behind a grid (M0) or only in the presence of their twin behind the grid (M1). The dams were removed at weaning. Half of the M0 and M1 lambs received human contact until 6 days of age (H1), while the other lambs were not handled by humans and had no visual contact with humans during feeding and other husbandry duties (H0). The lamb’s response to the stockperson was measured during the initial period of human contact, while in the rearing pen (at 4 and 9 weeks of age) and in a test pen at 5 and 10 weeks of age. As well, the lamb’s response to a novel object was tested at 3 and 8 weeks of age and their preference for a stockperson or familiar conspecific was assessed at 6 and 11 weeks of age. Regardless of whether the dam was present, during periods of human contact the lamb remained in contact with the stockperson. Regardless of age, lambs that received human contact during rearing approached the stockperson more quickly and spent more time interacting with the stockperson, than those lambs that did not have human contact during rearing. More specifically, lambs reared with the dam and that received human contact approached the stockperson more readily than other lambs, even when they had to choose between the stockperson and a familiar conspecific. The lambs reared with the dam were more willing to approach the novel object at three weeks of age, than those reared away from the dam, but this difference was not evident after weaning. Thus, the results illustrated that the maternal environment affects the lambs’ ability to socialize with humans. The desire of lambs to remain close to the dam during rearing likely affects the development of other relationships made at an early age. However, the results bring to question how the contact and separation of the lamb from the ewe at an early age affects the lambs’ ability to socialize with humans, and how this improves their reaction to the stockperson.

Saving Money by Maximizing Energy Use Efficiency in Swine Production

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With the rising price of gas, there is energy saving techniques that can be used to reduce the cost of production. Proper management includes monitoring, setting, and maintenance of equipment to minimize the energy bill. An example of this is running fans too fast in winter, which will increase heating. Benchmarking will allow a farm to monitor energy use on a comparative basis. Creep heating can be made more efficient by using high radiant output/lower wattage heat lamps, diode dimmer switches to meet growing piglet needs, and hot water floor heating or electric heat pads to replace heat lamps. Hot water heating improves air quality and is the most efficient source. Radiant tube heating heats objects in the room rather than the air. Forced air systems heat the air itself, and must be re-circulated to disperse this heat. Gas-fired forced air systems consume oxygen and give off carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and water vapour. The new standards for lighting are T-8 fluorescent tubes with electronic ballast. These are 4 times more efficient than conventional incandescent lamps. Ventilation fans must be properly sized to meet production requirements. A properly designed system will optimize cubic foot/meter output and reduce capital costs. A heat exchanger can be used to recover heat from exhaust air.

Effects of density and perch availability on the immune status of broilers.

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Commercial broiler hens were raised from hatch to 42 days of age with 10, 15 and 20 birds per m2 in pens with or without the availability of horizontal perches to examine the effects of the housing on the immune status of the birds. The immune parameters assessed were lymphoid organ weights, antibody response to SRBC in the last 10 days of growth, heterophil:lymphocyte ratios at 32 and 42 days of age, and lymphocyte blastogenesis of peripheral blood lymphocytes collected at 32 and 42 days of age. As bird density increased, bursa weight and bursa/body weight ratios decreased. The bursa weights and bursa/body weight index were also significantly decreased by the addition of perches to the environment. No other significant effects were observed for the flock performance, morphometric data, or immunological tests between treatments. Conclusions stated that, under the conditions of the study, which tried to simulate commercial conditions, the bursal weight was the best indicator of stress related to housing density. Stress appeared to increase with the addition of perches because the birds used the perches infrequently. Therefore, there may have been a further reduction in the availability of floor space to the birds with the addition of perches.

Validation of a method for assessment of an acute pain in lambs.

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Lambs were castrated and tail docked using rubber rings and the level of acute pain was assessed using behavioural and physiological methods. Validity was determined by showing how accurately lambs were allocated to their appropriate treatment groups. The treatments were ranked before the experiment according to the amount of tissue damage and its sensitivity to pain (anaesthesia), in decreasing order of severity: 1) castration and tail docking; 2) bilateral castration; 3) unilateral castration; 4) short scrotum castration; 5) short scrotum castration with local anaesthesia; 6) handled. Another group of lambs that been tail docked only acted as a tail docking control for castration and tail docked lambs. Changes in plasma cortisol concentration; 14 postures and 11 active behaviors were recorded for 180 minutes. A principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) helped determine the combinations of indices that most accurately allocated lambs to the appropriate treatment groups. Using all individual indices available from the lambs in a PCA, the first two components accounted for 45 % of the variation while use of the DA allocated 79 % of the lambs to their appropriate groups (60 minute data). Values for 30, 90, 120, and 180 minutes were 50, 55, 48, and 48 %, respectively. Simplification of the measurement was carried out by combining indices: total – incidence of active behaviors, relating to movements of limbs, tail and head plus vocalisation; VSS – time spent dog sitting, lying normally with trembling or with partial extension of hind limbs, and statue standing; V4LL – lying with full extension of the hind limbs; AbS – abnormal standing, excluding statue standing. The accuracy of allocation was improved to 60, 79, 71, 64, and 60 % for 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 minutes using the combined indices. The accuracy for 60 minute data was not improved when increases in plasma cortisol were included. A simplified index consisting of V4LL and REW (movements of tail and limbs) allocated 74 % (60 minute data, 64 % for 30 minute data) correctly. When the treatment groups were combined to represent severe, mild, or moderate pain, the combined indices permitted correct allocation of 91 % and the simplified indices 83 % of lambs to their appropriate groups (60 minute data).