Odor and Odor Policy Criteria

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1995 | No Comments

Very general information is given on the odor and gas emissions, human health and perceptions, odor control technologies and measuring methods. The criteria for establishing policies on odor are presented. Those policies can be either based on actual odor emission, on separation distances, on odor emissions modeling and finally on nuisance complaints.

Airborne Dust Concentrations in Livestock Buildings and the Effect of Feed

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Vaccination against Strep. Suis

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Disease caused by infection of piglets with Streptococcus suis is responsible for some of the most significant and disturbing losses in swine production. The disease is recognized by many producers and veterinary swine specialists as the most important infectious disease currently affecting swine production in North America.
The three main objectives of this vaccine trial were to control disease in piglets by vaccinating sows in an infected herd, to determine whether vaccination alters anti-Streptococcus suis antibody titre in sow colostrums, and to compare the disease in two groups that were vaccinated with subunit bacterins to a control group. Two strains of S. suis (serotypes 3 and 9) were isolated from untreated pigs showing signs of meningitis in this herd. Two subunit vaccines (A and B) were prepared from a combination of both of these strains and were combined with adjuvant. The control group was given placebo vaccine (C ) prepared from sterile saline and adjuvant. Sows and gilts were randomly assigned to one of the three groups and were vaccinated intramuscularly at four weeks before farrowing and one week before farrowing. Barn staff recorded the identification of pigs that died and whether they showed signs of S. suis disease prior to death. The antibody titre in the colostrums of the sows that were vaccinated with vaccine A (titre of 3581) or vaccine B (titre of 1807) was significantly (P < 0.01) greater than the titre in the colostrums of the control sows (titre of 109). Likewise, piglets nursing sows vaccinated with A or B vaccines had greater antibody titres than piglets nursing control sows. The number of piglets born alive was not different among groups A, B or C, but more pigs in control group C died of S. suis disease than in vaccine groups A or B. In conclusion, both vaccine A and vaccine B reduced death from S. suis disease in litters from sows or gilts vaccinated with either of them. Both the vaccinated sows and their piglets had more antibody than controls.

A comparison of productivity and welfare of growing pigs in four intensive systems.

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Welfare of animals at slaughter – research and development. Part II.

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Airborne dust concentrations in livestock buildings and the effect of feed.

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Research on reducing airborne dust concentrations in livestock buildings is reviewed. Research has concentrated on removing dust from the livestock environment by methods such as filtration, ventilation, sweeping floors and spraying with oil and water. These methods have proved moderately successful, but the few studies that mention costs suggest that they are uneconomic. Little has been done to reduce the generation of dust. Feed has been identified as the main source of dust in livestock buildings. Research has shown that feed dustiness can be reduced by changing composition or applying coatings. However, further research and development are needed to apply this research to practical feed formulations. Feeders and feed delivery systems need to be developed to reduce their contribution to dust generation. The benefits in terms of animal production need to be quantified before the economics of the various dust control methods can be evaluated.

Swine Manure Nitrogen Conservation in Storage using Sphagnum Moss

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Laboratory Analysis of Manure

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To make efficient use of fertilizer nutrients in manure,
nutrient levels must be determined by laboratory analysis.
This publication outlines methods for obtaining and
interpreting laboratory analyses of manure.

Mise au point et evaluation de la faisabilite d'un procede naturel de traitement du lisier de porcs pas le sol

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In the Plouvorn site, a 4 years study is realized on a pilot scale pig manure treatment system using a natural soil process. The experiment is done under field conditions. The treatment is done in 3 stages: a managed field (3280 m2) from which all the leachate water that percolate through the soil can be recovered, a storage pump reactor system (160, 350 and 450 m3 capacity) where the denitrification process occur and to complete the treatment, a non-managed field. The manure treatment follows these operations: 1) over application is done to the managed field with manure, 2) the nitrate leachate is then collected and treated, 3) and the leachate that has been denitrified is irrigated over the fields. The objective of this project is to evaluated the performances of such systems for manure treatment, considering the nitrogen removal efficiency for the soil/water system used. From 1991 and 1994, and average of 980 m3 per year have been applied to the managed field for a total of 3919 m3 of raw manure per ha. The manure spreading was done in individual spreadings of 157 m3/ha from March-April through October of each year for a total nitrogen load of 756 kg total N per hectare. The leachate coming from the managed field contained high nitrates concentrations (concentrations ranging from 440 to 828 mg/L, measured during the last season) which show that the nitrification process was in the soil. The leachate was subsequently denitrified at and average rate of 0.5 to 1 kg N per day for a retention time in the reactor of 10 to 60 days. The results obtained show that this treatment process is a promising method for nitrogen removal.

No information is given on the expected life time of such soil filter and also on the other nutrients in the manure. No mention is done of the potential leaching of other nutrients as build up in the soils occurs with applications that go on. The increase in the concentration of some nutrients could also lead to toxicity levels for the growth of the vegetal cover that are meant to uptake those nutrients.

Managing Odors from Swine, Part 2 and Part 3

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This is a general overview of current method to reduce swine manure odors.

Areas discussed are buildings and facilities, outside storage systems (lagoons and covers,), and land applications (spreading and injection).