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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 Use of Snowfluent as an Alternative Method for Treatment of Liquid Hog Manure
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1999 | No Comments
Snowfluent has been successfully used in treating municipal wastewater since 1985, however this technology has never been applied to liquid hog manure. The process is very similar to that of making artifical snow, a production of a very fine aerasol when wastewater is propelled at a high velocity from the nozzle of a snow gun. The study was conducted in February 1997 at a 300 sow farrow-to-finish hog operation near Vegerville, Alberta. During snowmaking, bioaerosols were taken 6 m, 16 m, and 100 m within the snowgun tarjectory line. The liquid manure was sampled throughout the snowmaking period, and samples were also taken from newly made snow and the snowpack as it aged. Samples were also taken from the runoff as the snow melted and from standing water that remained after the snow was melted.
All samples collected were measured for: fecal coliform,pH, conducivity, Na, Ca, Cl, P, NH3 and NO3-N.
During the snowmaking process decreases between 87.8 – 99.3% of fecal coliforms were realized in the new snow, and significant decreases in pathogens were also observed in the snowpack. The snowpack and the melt water both reported decreases in excess of greater than 99.99%. Bioaerosol samples were taken at 100 m downwind from the snowgun did not differ from those upwind of the snowgun. Elevated levels were found throughout the tarjectory line of the snowgun, with the levels levels being reported at the 16 m range. As well, bacteria level in the trajectory line were founs to be in higher concentrations than normally reported in swine facilities. Bacteria concentrations at the 100 m point were not significantly higher than concentration levels upwind of the snowgun.
Samples of the new snow, aging snowpack and melt water indicated the concentrations of soluable constituents in the initial melt water were significantly higher than the initial concentrations in the snow. The snowpack served as a filtering mechanism, retaining the larger particles of organic matter within the snowpack and letting the more water soluable constituents drain out. This trial has shown Snowfluent to be a effective treatment for liquid hog manure, however the treatment is not effective enough for meltwater to be discharges into surface water or applied to frozen soil.
Soil mineral N and N net mineralization during autumn and winter under an oilseed rape-winter wheat-winter barley rotation in different crop management systems.
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Soil sampling in autumn gives important information on the soil N dynamic. In the growing seasons 1991/92 to 1995/96, the effects of different crop management systems on soil mineral N (NO3-N plus NH4-N:N(min) were investigated in a factorial field experiment at Hohenschulen Experimental Station near Kiel in NW Germany. The crop rotation was oilseed rape–winter wheat–winter barley, and soil tillage (conservation tillage without ploughing, conventional tillage), application of pig slurry (none, autumn, autumn + spring), mineral N fertilization (0, 120 and 240 kg N ha-1) and fungicide application (none, three applications) were all varied. Each year, the treatments occurred in all three crops of the rotation and were located on the same plots. N(min) was determined on four dates (‘After drilling’, ‘End of autumn growth’ before winter, ‘Beginning of spring growth’ before N fertilizer application, and ‘After harvest’) to 90 cm in 30 cm horizons. Under all crops, N(min) showed a large year to year variation. Highest values of 132 kg N ha-1 were observed ‘After drilling’, which decreased until ‘End of growth’. The increase of autumn N(min) (‘After drilling’, ‘End of autumn growth’) was mainly due to autumn slurry, whereas mineral N fertilizer mainly affected N(min) ‘After harvest’. Soil tillage and fungicide application only slightly modified N(min) at all dates. The relationship between N leaching and N(min) measured either ‘After drilling’ or at the ‘End of autumn growth’ in 1991/92-1994/95 remained too poor to be used to estimate N leaching. N net mineralization during autumn and winter varied with crops, as estimated by the N(min) changes between ‘After drilling’ minus ‘Start of spring growth’ plus N uptake by the crop at ‘Start of spring growth’ plus N leaching during winter. On average over the years, 39 kg N ha-1 were mineralized under oilseed rape and 42 kg N ha-1 under wheat compared with 31 kg N ha-1 under barley. However, a large year-to-year variation occurred. In addition, the ranking of the years differed with the crops. Slurry application led to different amounts of mineralized N. Under barley only 25 kg N ha-1 were calculated for the autumn slurry, but 42 kg N ha-1 for the autumn plus spring slurry treatment. In contrast, under oilseed rape the highest value of 41 kg N ha-1 occurred in the autumn slurry plots. Under wheat, slurry application only slightly affected N mineralization. Increased mineral N fertilization decreased N release under oilseed rape, but significantly increased it under cereals. Application of fungicides did not affect N mineralization during winter.
Hydraulic Conductivity Reduction Due to Ponded Hog Manure
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One of the most vocal concerns regarding the development of large intensive hog operations is the possbility of ground water contamination from the earthen manure storage (EMS) facility. Regulations regarding the construction of an EMS is to maintain a minimum seepage rate through the earthen material. Current regulations suggest a clay content of 15% and a plasticity index of 10% should be achieved in order to properly construct a EMS. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan studied the impact of ponded hog manure on flow rate, attempting to answer the following specific questions: (1) How much is flow reduced? (2) Does texture have an effect upon flow reduction? (3) Does length of time of manure ponding have an effect on flow reduction? (4) Is the flow reduction due toa seal and/or clogging within the soil? (5) What is the durability of the seal or clogging? (6) What is the effect of flow rates upon seal removal?
Seven different soils ranging in caly content from 9-33% were studied using 20cm soils column tests in a low-temperature (5-6 degress Celcius) environment. The average hydraulic conductivity values measured with water ranged from 2.63 x 10 exp -8 m/s to 131.8 x 10 exp -8 m/s. The hydrualic conducivity rapidly decreased within the first hour with a very thin black layer resting on the soil surface. Hydrualic conductivity values for all soil types (regardless of natural conductivity of the soil) dropped to about 0.1 x 10 exp -8 m/s within 3-6 weeks of ponding manure. The seal increased downward at a rate of 0.3 mm/month. The formation of the manaure seal is the primary factor for the reduction of hydrualic conductivity of all soils types tested. The text as well as the amount of time of manure ponding seems to have little effect upon flow reduction. However the seal seems to be temperature sensitive; unplanned heating events during the course of the experiment resulting in increased flow rates, average hydrualic conducivity rose from 0.10 x 10 exp -8 m/s to 0.36 x 10 exp -8 m/s when temperatures rose for the period of one day. Seal removal followed by ponding with a chemical solution resulted in the hydrualic conducivity returning back to original values measured with water.
Improving Net Income in Declining Markets
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Farrowing and savaging in wild boar sows
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Unwanted behaviours such as savaging are sometimes attributed to the process of domestication. Videotaping of farmed wild boar sows during farrowing revealed that 33 per cent were aggressive towards their piglets. Aggression varied with genetic line and was associated with long farrowings involving numerous posture changes. Savaging does not appear to be caused by domestication. Factors associated with piglet-directed aggression in wild boar may also be implicated in savaging in domestic sows.