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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:
Hydrogen Sulfide and Ammonia Receptor Concentrations in a Community of Multiple Swine Emission Sources: A Preliminary Study
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments
A Mobile Ambient Laboratory (MAL) was placed at a residence in a community with two swine‐barn emission sites and one land application area to observe real‐time atmospheric stability, ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations surrounding and within the residence during a 12‐week period. It was found that the concentrations and durations of NH3 and H2S measured in the ambient air surrounding the residence were far below recommended Minimum Risk Levels published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, for the protection of sensitive populations.
Hog producer invents liquid lime applicator for manure pits
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The struggle of touting hundreds of 40 kilogram bags of lime through narrow barn corridors to treat manure pits and the health hazards to humans and livestock when dealing with dry lime are what motivated a Manitoba threesome to invent their award-winning Lime Solutions Application Machine. Essentially, the machine creates a concentrated liquid lime solution that is sprayed on barn slat floors, as well as on manure pit walls and floors after the pits have been rinsed and drawn down, and before a new group of hogs is brought into the barn room. Less lime is required when the pits are drawn down. “This method is an economical way to deal with some of the nasty, hard to eradicate diseases that are floating around inside barns,” says Hytek director of capital development, Wilf Sawatzy. The designers started with a common, commercial sprayer implement and simply removed the spray booms. Initially, employees simply poured the bagged lime into the sprayer tank, but they now use an auger with a bag cutting device at the in-feed to both reduce the amount of manual labor required to handle the heavy bags and the health risk of coming into contact with the lime. A pallet of dry lime bags is delivered to the machine’s location. The 500 to 800 gallon tank is filled with water, and an employee begins placing lime bags in the auger basket where the bag cutter is located. The dry lime is then augered into the tank. The agitation pump removes the liquid from one end of the tank and replaces it at the other end to ensure there is enough agitation so the lime can mix evenly and is not allowed to settle. Hytek uses a three horsepower, gas-powered, three inch Honda pump to agitate the tank mixture. Another three horsepower, two inch Honda pump propels the concentrated lime mixture through a hose to the barn. Hytek has tested and settled on specific nozzles that provide the company with a spray pattern that delivers the best results. Hytek is currently applying the concentrated lime on a room-by-room basis between hog finishing cycles. Because the lime is in liquid form, it does not irritate hogs in other rooms, as was the case when Hytek applied dry lime to the pits. Therefore, a complete barn evacuation during an application is not required. Also, the lime does not clump up in the manure slurry and a concentrated liquid stream is easier for the operator to control. After pre-washing of a manure pit, it takes about 2.5 hours to complete an application in a nursery room of 600 hogs. Hytek has no plans to commercialize the system and is happy to share the system’s design with anyone who inquires.
Swine Slurry Characterization and Prediction Equations for Nutrients on South Korean Farms
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Slurry samples, collected from 23 commercial swine farms in South Korea during January to May 2008, were
characterized in terms of various physiochemical parameters: pH, specific gravity, electrical conductivity, total solids, volatile solids, fixed solids, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Na, and Mg), micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Al, Mn, Cu, and Co), heavy metals (Ni, Cr, As, Cd, and Pb), and microbes (total heterotrophic bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella).
Higher yields and a cost savings with liquid manure
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Manure may be a cheaper alternative to high-priced commercial fertilizers, but management is the key to profit and crop performance. Jon Rausch, Ohio State University Extension environmental management program director, says that more Ohio farmers are turning to manure for corn production because of the higher prices of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. However, they face the challenge of proper nutrient utilization to maximize results. “When manure is treated like a nutrient resource, it can be a cost-effective asset to crop production,” he says. “To maximize manure’s value, it must replace other nutrient inputs and be placed where a crop response is expected. Adding nutrients above recommended levels would decrease its value and increase the potential of those nutrients being lost to the environment.” Existing nutrient levels in the soil, how much manure is applied, how well manure is spread, and how well soil nutrients are maintained with manure application are just some of the variables that can influence the value of manure as a fertilizer resource. Ohio State University Extension researchers are conducting studies that demonstrate how the value of manure, specifically from swine, depends upon the need for supplemental nutrients, proper manure handling and thorough application practices. Coming off several years of research which showed that applying swine manure to post-emergence corn produced comparable or higher yields to commercial urea, OSU Extension educators in Putnam and Hancock counties hope to find the same results in treating pre-emergence corn. Not only does manure add nutrient value to a crop, it also adds environmental benefits including micronutrients, organics and biologicals – those organisms that make up the ‘living soil’. Though difficult to quantify with direct economic value, manure has been shown to improve soil quality and soil health, increase organic matter content and build water-holding capacities, among other benefits. “When a farmer is looking at 60 cents per pound of commercial nitrogen as fertilizer, using manure not only for the nutrient value, but also for the secondary benefits, might be an alternative to consider,” suggests Rausch.
Odor and Aeration Efficiency Affected by Solids in Swine Manure During Post-Aeration Storage
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An extensive laboratory study followed by a limited field‐scale investigation was carried out in this project with
the goal of determining the relationship between manure solids levels and aeration times and rates as well as their effect on the length of odor‐free storage after the combined separation and aeration treatment. It turns out that in order to reduce aeration time and rates, the manure total solids content should not exceed 1%. In the field study it was found that with a 10 hp surface aerator, it would take about 83 and 74 days to reduce VFA and BOD to the respective levels, i.e., 230 and 171 mg L‐1, under which offensive odors are not supposed to be produced.
Factor Analysis of Downwind Odours from Livestock Farms
Posted in: Environment, Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on January 29, 2007 | No Comments
Odour emissions from livestock operations in Ontario have raised significant public concerns. In this study, downwind odour measurements were conducted during a 7-week period in July and August in 2004. The study involved taking measurements at two poultry farms, six dairy farms, and six pig farms in southern Ontario using both human assessor observed Nasal Ranger field olfactometers and an electronic nose developed in our research laboratory. The factors considered include animal species, distance to the odour source, and weather conditions (i.e. wind speed, temperature, cloud cover, and atmospheric stability). The collected data were studied and the relationships between individual factors and downwind odour intensity were analysed. In addition, the significance of the factors was investigated and ranked. The results show that downwind livestock farm odour should be considered as a complex system and it is suggested that multi-factor analysis be performed. The ranking of the significance of factors to odour intensity can improve the understanding of downwind odour systems and enhance the efficiency of odour evaluation and reduction techniques. Responses of the gas sensors in the electronic nose were compared with the perceived odour intensities, and good agreement was reported.
Degree of Phosphorus Saturation in Manitoba Soils
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments
This study was funded by the Canadian Fertilizer Institute and ARDI and is ongoing. One of the things that we are exploring in this study is to compare simple soil test P with the newly formulated degree of phosphorus saturation (DPS) as measures of risk of P loss in runoff from Manitoba soils. Previous studies have shown that the DPS is superior to soil test in measuring the risk of P loss from different soils. However, our preliminary results have shown that for Manitoba soils this may not be so. We have so far obtained better relationships between the amount of P loss in runoff and soil test P compared to DPS. Therefore, further studies will be needed to refine the DPS of Manitoba soils, especially in soils with a history of manure application. The advantage of DPS (over simple soil test P) is that it can be used to define objectively a threshold beyond which the application of phosphorus to soils will not be advisable if the loss of P is to be minimized. Also the runoff studies that we have carried out so far have been in the laboratory using rainfall simulation. We will like to carry out similar studies in the field using rainfall simulation on representative Manitoba soils.
Oil cakes and their biotechnological applications – A review
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