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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:
Influence of season, ventilation strategy, and slurry removal on methane emissions from pig houses
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2006 | No Comments
Novel Partial Nitritation Treatment for Anaerobic Digestion Liquor of Swine Wastewater Using Swim-Bed Technology
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A swim-bed reactor using the biofringe acryl-fiber biomass carrier was used for partial nitritation
treatment for anaerobic digestion liquor of swine wastewater. The sludge in the reactor demonstrated excellent settling properties, and the sludge volumetric index (SVI) was always about 50ml g–1. The mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration was maintained above 10,000mg l–1 with a maximum of 16,800mg l–1. Satisfactory and stable partial nitritation was obtained at a nitrogen loading rate (NLR) of 1.9 kg-Nm–3 d–1 without any operational control. Only a little nitrate was produced almost during the whole operational period and the nitrite to total oxidized nitrogen ratio (NO2-N/(NO2-N+NO3-N)) was always above 95%. In addition, the influence of temperature on partial nitritation efficiencies was also investigated and non-controlled efficiencies were maintained stably between 15°C and 30°C at an NLR of 1.9 kg-Nm–3 d–1, but suddenly deteriorated when the temperature fell below 15°C. Nitrite oxidizing bacteria were inhibited by free ammonia and free nitric acid, which prevented the conversion of nitrite to nitrate and the inhibition due to free nitric acid weaken with a decrease in temperature. It was apparent that these phenomena were crucial to the control of partial nitritation treatment.
Spectral Signatures of Surface Materials in Pig Buildings
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Manual cleaning of pig production buildings based on high-pressure water cleaners is unappealing to workers, because it is tedious and health threatening. To replace manual cleaning, a few cleaning robots have been commercialised. With no cleanliness sensor available, the operation of these robots is to follow a cleaning procedure initially defined by the operator. Experience shows that the performance of such robots is poor regarding effectiveness of cleaning and utilisation of water. The development of an intelligent cleanliness sensor for robotic cleaning is thus crucial in order to optimise the cleaning process and to minimise the amount of water and electricity consumed. This research is aimed at utilising a spectral imaging method for cleanliness detection. Consequently, information on the reflectance of building materials and contamination in different spectral ranges is important. In this study, the optical properties of different types of surfaces to be cleaned and the dirt found in finishing pig units were investigated in the visual and the near infrared (VIS–NIR) optical range. Four types of commonly used materials in pig buildings, i.e. concrete, plastic, wood and steel were applied in the investigation. Reflectance data were sampled under controlled lighting conditions using a spectrometer communicating with a portable computer. The measurements were performed in a laboratory with materials used in a pig house for 4–5 weeks. The spectral data were collected for the surfaces before, during and after high-pressure water cleaning.
The spectral signatures of the surface materials and dirt attached to the surfaces showed that it is possible to make discrimination and hence to classify areas that are visually clean. When spectral bands 450, 600, 700 and 800nm are chosen, there are at least two spectral bands for each type of the materials, in which the spectral signals can be used for discrimination of dirty and clean condition of the surfaces.
Impact of Pork Industry on Rural Communities: Community Perceptions of Environmental, Economic and Social Impacts of Livestock Production
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Across Canada the continued viability of livestock production is increasingly dependent upon the willingness of the community to accept the industry as it continues to evolve. Issues that have arisen include air and water quality, as well as social and economic concerns. It is predicted that as cities engulf the country, there will be increasing conflict between rural residents and the growing livestock industry. Lessons learned from studies done on contrasting perspectives of livestock production is to take a proactive versus a reactive approach, build a positive farm-neighbour relationship, educate the public about farming practices, communicate with neighbours on an ongoing basis, and listen to concerns and address the concern one-on-one.
Greenhouse gas abatement strategies for animal husbandry
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