Formulation of diets to minimize pollution

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on January 1, 1994 | No Comments

It is important to consider the impact of animal production on the environment. Several countries have installed regulations or recommendations to minimize the impact that animal agriculture has on pollution. These recommendations tend to lead to an increased cost of production as well as causing producers to seek a means to reduce the production of animal waste. This article discusses the situation in the Netherlands with a primary focus on swine. Some nutritional means may have relevance to North America.
With more than 15 million pigs and 2 million dairy cows on 37,000 sq.km. of land in the Netherlands, there is a large amount of manure produced. This manure tends to be high in minerals, which has had negative effects on soil, water and air quality. In current legislation, phosphate has been used to quantify manure production. This has given producers an incentive to reduce total manure volume by increasing its dry matter content. The use of heavy mineral growth promoters has already been abolished for years.
On swine farms, the efficiency of mineral retention is very low, for potassium (3.6 a

An evaluation of humane gas stunning methods for turkeys.

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Keep Track of the Winds of Change

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The ventilation system in a barn has three functions and must be designed properly. Do not rely on machines and instruments to determined a barn environment, look at your pigs. Pigs which are cold tend to lie in piles in a warm and draught free area. Pigs which are hot attempt to lie separated from each other with maximum body surface in contact with the floor. The LCT and UCT define the pig’s thermoneutral zone where no energy is wasted to cool or heat the pig. Watch for signs of ill health in your pigs such as sneezing, coughing and increased depth of breathing. Monitor temperature in the barn. Dirty sensors/control systems cannot maintain room conditions within the necessary parameters. Ideally for the average finishing room of 12 pens, there should be three maximum and minimum thermometers fixed in the air-stream above the stock – typically, mid-pen, 3m from the wall and 1.2m above the floor. Very little electrical energy is required to monitor barn conditions.

Odour Nuisance from Livestock Production Systems

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Pollution in livestock production systems: an overview / J.B. Owen — Pollution of livestock production systems — Contamination of animal feeds: a review of principal causes, detection, investigation and control of toxic contaminants / C.T. Livesey — Hazards and control of aflatoxins / A.A. El-Darawany, I. Fayez M. Marai — Effect of airborne particulates on livestock health and production / J. Hartung — Effect of gaseous pollutants on animals / M. Verstegen, S. Tamminga, R. Greers — Ionizing radiation and radioprotection in farm animals / A.M. Abdel-Samee, I. Fayez M. Marai Radiocaesium contamination of sheep in the United Kingdom after the Cherobyl accident / B.J. Howard, N.A. Beresford — Effects of salinity of drinking water on farm animals / I. Fayez M. Marai, A. Alnaimy M. Habeeb — Salmonella pollution in poultry units and associated enterprises / R.H. Davies, C. Wray — Leptospirosis / W.A. Ellis, S. McDowell — Pollution from livestock production systems — Pollution of soils and watercourses by wastes from livestock production systems / J. Webb, J.R. Archer — Pollution from fish farms / R. Goulder, O.J. CarrPollution potential and flows of nitrogen to waters and the atmosphere from grassland under grazing / S.C. Jarvis — Odour nuisance from livestock production systems / B.F. Pain — Safety of animal products in the human food chain / J.H. Pratt — Utilization and disposal of wastes from livestock production systems — Use of silage effluent as an animal food / D.C. Patterson, R.W.J. Steen — Use of animal waste as a crop fertilizer / I. Ap Dewi — Biogas production / D.A.J. Wase, K. ThayanithyComposting and reed beds for aerobic treatment of livestock wastes / A.J. Biddlestone, K.R. Gray, K. Thayanithy — Treatment of livestock slurry by aeration and algae / H.J. Fallowfield, I.F. Svoboda, N.J. Martin — Systems of storage and disposal of livestock wastes / R.J. Nicholson — Expert systems and modelling to tackle farm wastes / T.R. Cumby … [et al.] — Reduction of ammonia emission from Dutch agriculture: technical solutions / G.J. Monteny

Treatment of Dilute Manure Wastewaters by Chemical Coagulation.

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The tests were done with very diluted manure reconstituted with the mix of solid manure with water to obtain 1% total solids. Polymers (natural or synthetic) can be used for flocculation as these macromolecules attach themselves (by their electric charges in the case of livestock and poultry treatment this charge has to be positive)) to several particles in suspension, flocculation thus occurs followed by settling. The most cost effective is a synthetic polymer which removed 42% of the volatile solids at a concentration of 1,0 mg/L and the cost would be 108.46 U.S.$ per year for 1000 hogs. The synthetic polymers are also nontoxic and more easy to handle and apply than the ferric chloride which is a corrosive liquid.
The use of such chemical has to be integrated with other manure treatment or could be considered if it presents an advantage to handle the liquids and solids separately.

Diagnostiquer les risques de pollution des eaux dans les exploitations d'elevage : la methode DEXEL

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This diagnosis model has been develop to help advisors when consulting farmers and find economical solutions for manure management. The risks for environmental and water pollution are evaluated and rated for the farm investigated in order to point out the aspects that can be optimized. For farms with storage facilities problems, an analysis of the farm situation with the manure produced and the land available for manure spreading is done and a manure spreading calender is made considering the crops. The storage facilities necessary are than deducted to solve the problem.

Feeding the high producing sow: Estimating energy and protein requirements of the high producing sow

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Swine dust causes intense airways inflammation in healthy subjects

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dust, broncheoalveolar lavage, air, inflamation, health,

Maximizing Energy Use Efficiency in Swine Production

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Environmental Laws Impacting Iowa Livestock Producers.

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Using a question – answer form, the document goes through all aspects of the U.S.regulations and states regulations having an impact on Iowa livestock producers. At the Federal level, the Clean Water Act (CWA) consider water pollution under two categories: point sources and nonpoint sources. The point sources are regulated by the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) which controls by permit emissions the discharges of pollutants from a point source. Most states administer the NPDES. To the NPDES permits may be added water quality standards specific to a state that are more restrictive; the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) may review the permit emitted and in some cases disapprove it. CWA also enacted several provisions to address the non-point source pollution problems affecting rivers, lakes, and wetlands. The Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) requires each state containing coastal zone (coastal areas including the Great Lakes waters) to adopt a management program for those areas. The Clean Air Act (CAA) has currently no application for the odor problems and thus considered as nuisance, they are handled under state common law. Right-to-Farm Laws provide some protection concerning nuisance lawsuits but not for pollution suits in general. Cases are presented where the right-to-farm laws offered virtually no protection (ex: introduction of a new livestock production unit particularly with the introduction of swine or poultry production). In Iowa, the Department of Natural Resources(DNR) and the Iowa Environment Protection Commission (EPC) regulate the environment, are responsible for the preparation of plans and programs for abatement, control and prevention of the pollution. DNR will deliver construction permits to allow the construction of waste control systems for a facility. All operations that use anaerobic lagoons as part of the waste control systems and all operations that use earthen waste storage other than anaerobic lagoons and have a capacity of more than 500 butcher and breeding swine (over 55 LB) which represent a total of 200 animal units have to ask for a construction permit. In some case construction permits are required by DNR and those other operation are than notified. Open feedlots will need operation permits when the capacity exceeds 2,500 butcher and breeding swine (over 55 LB) or 1,000 total animal units unless the proof is made that no waste from the feedlot is discharged into a stream or other state water. For new or expanding anaerobic lagoon facilities or earthen waste manure basins from the neighbor property are: 380 m (1,250 ft) for operations of less than 283,500 kg (625,000 LB) live animal weight (for other species than beef cattle) or 570 m (1,875 ft) when the live animal weight is superior to the values given. Guidelines for land application of waste are not mandatory and are based on acceptable levels of nitrogen and phosphorus application. No manure application should be done during frozen or snow covered soils, on land areas within 60 m (200 ft) of and draining into: a stream, surface or buried conduit for a tile line, sinkhole, shoreline of a lake or pond and well with an open surface inlet. Regulations also control carcasses disposal. Zoning ordinances are being adopted by local governments for development zoning when land use is dedicated to agriculture and the most popular features about those ordinances are the size of the production units, the definition of “farm” and the acreage associated with it and also the definition of commercial feedlots or production.