Estimation of the Nutrient Value of Agricultural Slurries by Measurement of Physical and Chemical Properties

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1998 | No Comments

A prototype nutrient sensing system was used to investigate relationships between the nutrient status of agricultural slurries and a range of physical and chemical properties. These properties were all measured using devices suitable for possible installation in full-scale slurry handling systems. The prototype system was tested on a total of 160 slurries, comprising approximately 20 cattle and 20 pig slurries from each of four European countries. Linear relationships were identiAzed between ammoniacal nitrogen concentration and the electrical conductivity of the slurries and between total phosphorus
and the density of the slurries. Generally, regressions for total potassium were weaker than those
identiAzed for either ammoniacal nitrogen or total phosphorus. The results show that a practical nutrient sensing system is feasible for farm use. For example, such a system could be used on a slurry tanker to estimate the nutrient status of the whole tanker contents, thus eliminating the sampling errors associated with sub-sampling from a large store.

Concentrations and Emissions of Ammonia in Livestock Buildings in Northern Europe

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Emissions of ammonia from livestock farming are responsible
for the acidiAzcation and eutrophication of deposited
ammonia in the environment. Research into the
ammonia emission from livestock houses was carried out
in 14 housing types for cattle, pigs and poultry in England,
The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. Concentrations
of ammonia and carbon dioxide (the latter for estimating
ventilation rates) were measured at seven locations
inside and one location outside in four replicates of each
housing type over 24 h under summer and winter conditions.
Mean concentrations and emissions per housing
type per country were estimated together with some variance
components. Mean ammonia concentrations were
lower than 8 p.p.m. in cattle houses, between 5 and
18 p.p.m. in pig houses and between 5 and 30 p.p.m. in
poultry houses. The concentrations of ammonia in a number
of pig and poultry houses exceeded the threshold value
of 25 p.p.m. and may aA

Changes in chemical properties during composting of spent pig litter at different moisture contents

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Dust in Livestock Buildings (EIRC)

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Siting and Swine Facilities – English Version

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Pre-sorting pigs by weight

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Two trials were conducted to determine if pigs should be sorted by weight at the beginning of the growing/finishing phase and if this decision is dependent upon the use of all in/all out (AI/AO) or continuous pig flow management. Pigs were classified by their relative weight as Heavy, Medium or Light prior to allocation to pens. Within each gender, pigs were allocated to create uniform pens, consisting entirely of Heavy, Medium and Light pigs, respectively, and variable pens consisting of two or more of the weight classes. In addition to standard growth and intake data, behaviour data on aggression and time budgets were collected on the pigs. There were no deleterious effects of having variable weight pens. Average daily gain (ADG), and behaviour did not differ between pigs in uniform and variable weight pens. The rate of pen and room emptying differed depending upon the pig flow management system and grouping strategy. Under a continuous flow system, pens were emptied in an average of 105.5 days, while under an AI/AO system the rooms were emptied in an average of 107.5 days. Uniform and variable weight pens emptied at the same rate under the continuous flow system. Under the AI/AO system, rooms of variable weight pens emptied faster (104.1 days) than did rooms of uniform weight pens (110.9). Sorting pigs by weight into uniform pens at the beginning of the growing/finishing phase is not advantageous, and may be detrimental to rapid turn-over of rooms under an AI/AO management system.

Feeding technique for welfare of horses.

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Vocal response to pain in piglets.

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Welfare and productivity of hill sheep farming in the highlands and islands – part 2.

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Environmental impact of the barn – The Role of the Stockperson

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Water wastage and heating represents a large cost to a producer. Energy consumption of the heating system associated with building setpoint temperature and the importance of water wastage on volume of slurry is examined. Odor emmissions can be affected by room cleanliness. For the heating study, three different temperature curves were considered at five different locations in Canada. Increase in cost was associated with an increase in barn temperature above recommended setpoint temperature. A 5000 head barn was used as an example to illustrate the cost associated with water wastage and subsequent spreading costs. Gas and odor emmissions are detrimental to the barn environment but can be reduced through pen cleaning, temperature management and dust control.