Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Clean Water Act Requirements

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

Your swine operation would be considered a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) if it is an animal feeding operation and it meets one of the following conditions: Large CAFO – 1) has 2,500 swine, each weighing 55 lbs or more; 2) has 10,000 swine, each weighing less than 55 lbs. Medium CAFO – 1) has 750 swine, each weighing 55 lbs or more; 2) has 3,000 swine, each weighing less than 55 lbs. If your operation has a man-made ditch or pipe that carries manure or wastewater from your operation or your animals come into contact with surface water running through the area where they are confined, then it is considered a CAFO. No matter what size your operation is, if it is an animal feeding operation then it can be designated a CAFO. If your permitting authority inspects your operation and finds that it’s adding pollutants to surface waters, your operation might need a CAFO permit.
For updated information in the requirements and legislation dealing with CAFOs visit: www.epa.gov/npdes/caforule, www.epa.gov/agriculture or contact your permitting authority by visiting: www.epa.gov/npdes/afo/statecontacts

Integrated waste treatment system for treating high-strength aquaculture wastewater II

Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments

A

Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments

LE CYCLE DES A

Pigs as Recyclers for Nutrients Contained in Bermuda Grass Harvested from Spray Fields

Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments

Measuring Water-Extractable Phosphorus in Manure as an Indicator of Phosphorus in Runoff

Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments

Comparison of urination frequency of grower-finisher pigs to ammonia emssion

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

A computer model can predict ammonia emissions if the number of urine puddles in a room is known. Seventy-two pigs were observed for 26 h at three different times during their grow-finish phase. Urination frequency was similar for males and females and did not change with age. The maximum number of events was between 12h00 and 20h00. Early morning events were rare. Emissions from the room cannot be directly linked to the urination pattern at this point, as puddles will emit ammonia for many hours.

Quality Management, Auditing and Certification: Impacts on Product Quality, On-farm Food Safety and Animal Well Being

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Recent scares of diseases such as BSE, Salmonella, E. coli, etc. have led to a consumer need for quality control. HACCP and HACCP-type concepts have been developed in order to regulate quality control.

Pre-harvest food safety is the series of steps that need to be taken at the farm level that aim at preventing and/or minimizing the amount of food-borne health risks to humans carried into the food chain via animals and animal products. In the case of pigs, these a

Genotype-by-environment interaction with broiler genotypes differing in growth rate. 4. Association between responses to heat stress and to cold-induced ascites.

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Males and females, selected from a commercial line to represent its phenotypic variation for BW, were mated with similarly ranked mates to produce sire families representing a wide genetic variation in potential growth rate (GR). Following 5 wk of rearing at normal ambient temperatures, birds representing all sire families were exposed to cold (37 to 47, Trial 1) or hot (43 to 48, Trial 2) environments. Birds exhibiting ascites syndrome (AS) in the cold environment (Trial 1) were counted, and the incidence of AS (%AS) per family was calculated. Sire families’ least square means of BW at 37 d of age in Trial 1 and BW at 43 d of age in Trial 2 represented the families’ potential GR (i.e. GR under normal conditions). A significant positive correlation was found between potential GR and %AS indicating that families with higher potential GR under normal conditions are more likely to suffer from AS under cold stress compared to families with lower GR. Heat stress markedly reduced weight gain in all families. A negative correlation was found between growth under heat stress (Trial 1) and %AS (Trial 2), indicating that families whose GR is more depressed under heat stress are more likely to suffer from AS under cold stress. The results of this study suggest that the two stress responses may share similar control of the genetic variation in each trait and their negative genetic correlation with potential GR.

Effect of dietary supplemental levels of vitamin A on the egg production and immune responses of heat-stressed laying hens.

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

In experiment one, two levels of vitamin A supplementation (3,000 and 9,000 IU/kg) were used to investigate the laying performance and antibody titer against Newcastle disease virus of heat-stressed hens. Results indicated that the higher supplementation level had a beneficial effect on the feed intake and laying rate of heat-stressed hens compared with the control group with the lower supplementation level. Antibody titers were not affected by the level of vitamin A. In experiment two, four levels of vitamin A were given (3,000, 6,000, 9,000 and 12,000 IU/kg) to test their effects on the antibody titer to Newcastle disease virus and the T lymphocyte proportion. The experimental birds were exposed to a high temperature (31.5 A?C) 15 days after vaccination against the Newcastle disease virus (Treatment 1) or immediately (Treatment 2). Results indicated that egg weight was increased in response to the high levels of vitamin A supplementation (6,000 and 9,000 IU/kg), but feed intake, laying rate, and body weight loss were not. Vitamin A had no significant effect on antibody titers against the Newcastle disease virus in normal or hot environments in Treatment 1, but the proportion of A?-naphthyl acetate esterase-positive cells increased. Vitamin A supplementation had significant effects on the Newcastle disease virus antibody titer and the A?-naphthyl acetate esterase-positive cell proportion in Treatment 2. Conclusions stated that vitamin A supplementation in commercial layer diets to layer chickens under heat stress was beneficial to laying performance and immune function.

Consistency of individual behavioural characteristics of dairy cows in their home pen.

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

The objective of this study was to classify dairy cows based on their individual behavioural characteristics. Observations of their spontaneous behaviour and responses during behavioural tests were recorded. The authors hypothesized that reliable and distinguishing characteristics of dairy cows are consistent across time and situations. The daily uninterrupted individual behaviour of dairy cows kept in loose-housing was recorded for four days, every five minutes. Based on the outcome of agonistic interactions, an agonistic index was determined. Three behavioural tests were conducted, a visual obstacle test, a tail fixation test, and an air puff test, in order to determine the cows’ reactions to environmental stimuli. The tests were repeated once a month for three months. The behaviours that were found to be correlated between repetitions included: time spent lying, time spent locomotion/standing, the agonistic index and the reactions to the air puff test. The first and second repetition of the visual obstacle test was correlated, but the values decreased over time. The response to the tail fixation test was not consistent over time. All spontaneous behaviours were correlated except the agonistic index was not correlated with locomotion/standing. There were no correlations found between the behavioural tests or between the behavioural tests and the spontaneous behaviours. The authors concluded that measures of spontaneous behaviours are best for distinguishing among individuals.