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Industry Partners
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:
Sesign of a Manure Handling System for an Air Quality Laboratory in a Swine Barn
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments
Two manure handling systems are currently being tested to determine which system best eliminates all manure contamination from the air in an air qaulity laboratory. Two systems inlcude a washing gutter and a inclined conveyor belt. Both systems can beadjusted to run at various frequencies and are currently being tested to find out how often they need to run to eliminate contamination from the manure. Once the manure handling systems have been optimized to produce minimum contaimination from the manure further testing will be done on other sources of contaminants.
Managing Residue With Manure Application
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
To meet conservation compliance requirements, a standard of at least 30% residue cover must remain on the soil surface after planting. The type of manure application equipment used can significantly affect the amount of residue cover remaining on soil surface. In this study, residue cover was estimated after the application of liquid manure at four different rates with three different types of manure applicators.
The type of application equipment also had a significant impact on the amount of residue remaining after manure application. Disc-covered manure applicators were more aggressive in overturning soil and residue to cover the applied manure. The shovel incorporator had more visible disturbance due to the shovel mixing of the applied manure with the soil. On the other hand, the slot injector was less disruptive to surface residue because it applies the manure below the soil surface. The rate of manure application had a relatively smaller impact on corn and soybean surface residue cover. However, the rate of manure application can impact residue cover depending on the types of both the manure applicator and crop residue.
Effective manure application and residue management can be combined to improve both soil productivity and environmental quality. The slot injector applicator disturbed the minimum amount of soybean surface residue while applying manure at high rates. Under corn residue, the disc-covered manure applicator left more than 30% residue cover, therefore meeting conservation compliance requirements.
MODIFICATION AND USE OF DRAINMOD TO EVALUATE A LAGOON EFFLUENT LAND APPLICATION SYSTEM
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Greenhouse Gas Odour Emissions from Pig Production Buildings, Manure Storage and Manure Treatment Faciltiies
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The general objective of this study was to evaluate methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, and also odours emissions for swine operations in two provinces (Québec and Saskatchewan) under liquid manure management. More specifically, the research has been targeted at: 1. determining GHG and odour emissions from different types of swine production buildings and building floor designs; 2. determining GHG and odour emissions from different types of manure storage facilities, and 3. determining GHG and odour emissions from two manure treatment systems. Greenhouse gas and odour emission results have been expressed in terms of unit animal mass in order to allow for direct comparisons between the different sources. Researchers from four different organizations – the Institut de recherche et développement en agroenvironnement (IRDA), Prairie Swine Centre Inc. (PSCI), Université Laval and the University of Saskatchewan – actively participated in the project.
Studies Show P Retention Depends on Soil Type
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Computer models developed at the University of Manitoba are helping determine the capacity of Manitoba soils to absorb phosphorus and to calculate how much capacity is being used. A study was done to determine the ability of Manitoba soils to absorb phosphorus (P), to develop mathematical equations to calculate the ability and to determine the degree of saturation. The biggest factors affecting P absorption capacity are soil properties and management practices. Clay soils have a high ability to retain P where as the sandy soils, both in the wet sand and in the dry sand, have a very low ability to hold P. Soils with a coarse texture have a limited ability to retain P. It doesn’t take much to exceed the ability of those soils to retain P so the risk of loss in those soils in very high, while clay soils can receive P and manure and phosphorus fertilizer without much risk. Scientists have created mathematical equations to calculate the soil’s ability to absorb P based on its properties and to calculate the amount of absorption capacity that is already being used. It is important for farmers to know their soil because this affects phosphorus management, manure management and fertilizer phosphorus management.