Public Involvement in the Siting of Large Scale Hog Facilities: Lessons for Pork Producers from Four Alberta Communities

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2001 | No Comments

The recent increases in intesnive hog production in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba has corresponded to increased hostility and legal challenges within rual agrcultural communities over the siting of intenive facilties. Long expensive appeals to siting decisions suggest the need for public involvement in intensive livestock management. A 1998 study prepared an assessment of the socio-economic impact of hogs in Alberta. Their conclusions, recommended that pork producers strike a balance between the science-based aspecs of their plan and good neighbor policies, inclusing communication with surrounding neighbours, public awareness and solid environmental planning. Our research focuses on the public involvment in the siting of intesnive hog developments in Alberta, the rteasons for conflict, and the ways to minimize conflict through constructive public particiapation methods

Understanding the Soil-Lanscape: Implications for Managing Manure

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Introduction
Application of livestock manure to land has been conducted for centuries to increase agricultural productivity by providing nutrients and organic materials that improve overall soil tilth and fertility. Manure is a valuable source of crop nutrients and organic matter provided that it is used as a nutrient amendment based on sound agronomic principles. Soil and water quality deterioration following manure addition may occur when agronomic principles are not adhered to or when manure is simply disposed of as a waste on agricultural land. It is important for the land manager to understand the pros and cons of manure application to land as well as understand the limitations of the land base to which the manure is applied. One of the factors that influences the fate of manure applied to land is the variability of the soillandscape. Unfortunately, the variability of soils within a given landscape is generally not well appreciated and manure (or fertilizers) is applied uniformly across a given field with little consideration given to the variability in soil and hydrologic processes within the field. This paper presents the concept of the soil-landscape and describes how an understanding of this concept is important for managing manure on agricultural land. What is the a

Dust and Bioaersol Concentrations in Two Swin Finishing Buildings in Kanas

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Air quality was assessed in 2 commercial swine finishing barns, one naturally ventilated and the other mechanically ventilated. The concentrations of inhalable dust IDC) and respirable dust (RDC), bioaerosols, carbon dioxide, and ammonia as well as particle size distribution, air temperature, relative humidity inside the barns were measured for 41 consecutive weeks covering three batches of pigs in each barn. The mean IDC, RDC, total viable particles, and respirable particles in the naturally ventilated barn were 2.19 mg/m3, 0.10 mg/m3, 6.0 x 1^4 and 9.8 x 10^3 respectively. The two barns did not differ significantly in any of the above parameters or in particle size distribution. The IDC and RDC inside the two barns correlated significantly with the weight of the pigs. The IDC also correlated with the outside air temperature, and the RDC correlated with the temperature difference between the outside and inside air. Significant but small correlation was found between the total forming units inside the barns and the weight of the pigs.

Availability of Nitrogen in Solid Manure Amendments with Different C:N Ratios

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MEASUREMENT OF LEAKAGE FROM EARTHEN MANURE STRUCTURES IN IOWA

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Pulmonary diseases caused by airborne contaminants in swine confinement buildings

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Sampling and Measurement of Ammonia Concentration at Animal Facilities a

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Lack of cross-protection between European H1N1 and H1N2 swine influenza viruses

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Land Application of Swine Waste: Regulation and Producer Practices in Oklahoma

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This paper develops some general hypotheses about producer practices relating to manure land application and examines current swine waste manure handling practices, land application methods, and potential land constraints based on a pilot survey of Oklahoma swine producers. This survey is undertaken to determine the actual importance of land and transportation cost constraints in this region and thereby assist policy makers in identifying potential causes for manure over-application. Based on a limited sample from our pilot survey, we find some evidence to support transportation-cost hypotheses about manure waste management: that transportation costs affect the distribution of swine waste on individual Oklahoma Farms.
The paper provides an overview of existing theory relating to the economics of land application of manure given possible land constraints and manure transportation costs. It then discusses regulation and policy relating to the land application of manure. Preliminary results of a pilot survey of Oklahoma swine producers are then presented. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of Oklahoma manure management practices for policy design.

Digestibility of Energy and of High Oil Corn

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