SEARCH
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:
Policy Networks, Federal Arrangements, and the Development of Environmental Regulations: A Comparison of Canadian and American Agricultural Sectors
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments
South Tobacco Creek Manured Watershed Runoff Study, 1998 – 2001
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
A study was conducted in the South Tobacco Creek Watershed from 1998 to 2001 to compare surface water quality runoff characteristics between fields amended with inorganic commercial fertilizer and organic (hog manure) fertilizer. Water runoff samples were also collected from a forage field and a relatively undisturbed natural wooded area. The study was conducted with the collaboration of producers within the watershed and various agencies that included Manitoba Conservation , Environment Canada, Manitoba Agriculture and Food, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Manitoba Pork Est , the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative and the Agricultural Research and Development Initiative. There was no indication that application of hog manure onto land during the fall by broadcast spreading and incorporation into the soil within 48 – 72 hours caused greater fecal coliform values in spring runoff than from locations without manure applications. Mean fecal coliform bacteria values from the field applied with hog manure were within ranges from the Forage Field, the Natural Wooded Area, and fields in the Twin Watershed that did not receive manure. Concentrations of nutrients and organic carbon were significantly higher in runoff from the Manured Watershed field than the other study field sites when an appreciable amount of runoff (481 m3 ha-1) occurred from this site during 1998. In 1998, mean total nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were 18.4 mg L-1 and 2.3 mg L-1, respectively. Meanwhile, concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus from the Natural Wooded Area, Forage Field, Zero-till field and Conventional-till field ranged from approximately 0.4 – 2.9 mg L-1 and < 0.1 - 0.54 mg L-1, respectively. The relatively substantive runoff volume during 1998 also coincided with a relatively high areal loss (kg ha-1) of nutrients from the Manured Watershed field compared to the Conventional-till and Zero-till fields. Total nitrogen loss from the Manured Watershed field was approximately 8.63 kg ha-1 compared to between only 1.72 - 1.77 kg ha-1 from the Zero-till and Conventional-till fields, despite the Manured Watershed field being only about one quarter the size of the other fields. Higher nutrient losses from the Manured Watershed field in 1998 were considered due to much higher nutrient values in the upper 15 cm of soil of the Manured Watershed than the other fields. Nutrient loss from the Manured Watershed field was much lower than from the Conventional-till or Zero-till fields between 1999 - 2001 even though nutrient values in soil were usually above agronomic rates and continued to be higher than the Zero-till or Conventional-till fields during spring runoff. Total nitrogen loss from the Manured Watershed field was < 0.1 kg ha-1 compared to between 0.81 - 3.67 kg ha-1 from the Conventional-till and Zero-till fields. The main reason for this situation was due to poor runoff from this field in those years. Runoff from the Manured Watershed field was not measurable in 2000 and only ranged between 2% - 6 % of the 1998 value during 1999 and 2001. This condition greatly reduced the opportunity for nutrient loss in surface runoff. The mean total nitrogen concentration from the Conventional-till field during spring runoff 1999 was 16.4 mg L-1 and was the second highest value observed during this study. The occurrence of this concentration was attributed to the addition of anhydrous ammonia-N during the previous fall of 1998. Although anhydrous ammonia-N was also applied to the Conventional-till field in the fall of 1999 at the same application rate as 1998, the absence of runoff from the Conventional-till field during 2000 prevented a repeated occurrence of relatively high nitrogen concentrations in spring runoff. Mean total phosphorus concentrations in runoff from the fields were usually < 2 mg L-1, except for the Manured Watershed and Zero-till fields during 1998 and 2001, respectively. During these years, mean total phosphorus values from the Manured Watershed and Zero-till fields were approximately 2.3 mg L-1 and 2.7 mg L-1, respectively. Mean phosphorus concentrations from the Forage Field and Zero-till field appeared to be slightly increasing each successive year and this was thought to be likely due to increased organic build up on the soil surface over time. The dissolved form of phosphorus as well as the dissolved forms of nitrogen and organic carbon comprised the major portion the total concentrations for each variable. Mean suspended solid concentrations were consistently higher from the Conventional-till field than other field sites. This was considered due to more surface soil exposure and less organic matter on the soil surface to help reduce soil and other fine particulate matter transport. The total nutrient losses from fields were usually lower from precipitation events in the post-spring runoff period than during spring mainly because there were more days with runoff in spring to provide more volume. The nutrient content of hog manure from a single operation was not consistent between years. Nitrogen content varied more than phosphorus. Nitrogen was fairly consistent for samples from the first two years of the study and a sample collected a couple of years prior to the study, and was less consistent for the later two years of study. This variation affects estimates for determining fertilization rates and emphasizes the importance for soil testing areas receiving hog manure, especially on land that receives repeated annual applications. Total phosphorus values in soil samples collected from the Manured Watershed field during fall showed a consistent, slightly increasing trend with consecutive annual applications of hog manure over a four-year period. This was attributed to application rates based upon N requirements and more P than needed for crops was incidentally added while meeting nitrogen requirements.
Geographic Variability of Escherichia coli Ribotypes from Animals in Idaho and Georgia
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Ultimate Recycling: Ash from Combustion of Swine Manure Used as a Mineral Source for Pigs
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Traditionally, pigs were fed household waste, while their manure was used as a fertilizer for crops. Although it may not have been realized at the time, this system
resulted in a continuous reuse of minerals such as phosphorus, and thus it prevented environmental problems with these minerals. In modern production practices, where feedstuffs are brought in from afar, this cycle is often broken. Minerals are allowed to accumulate somewhere in the swine production systema
Carvacrol and Thymol Reduce Swine Waste Odor and Pathogens: Stability of Oils
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Soil Sampling: Why is it Important?
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
In order to apply manure correctly, proper soil sampling must be done first. Soil sampling once a year is the key component of a sustainable manure management plan. Different methods of soil sampling exist. When choosing a type, the following points are critical to consider. 1) Select a sampling procedure that will provide information to adjust or support manure application rates and practices, 2) Every field should be sampled every year, and 3) All fields should be sample for a 0-15cm, 15-60cm depth with separate composite samples for each analysis.
The most common method of sampling involves taking random samples throughout the field and once they are thoroughly mixed, a single sample is submitted to the lab. Some points to remember are: 1) avoid sampling in areas of variability, 2) on hilly land, use the mid-slope to get average results, and 3) composite samples should be taken from at least 15-20 sites/field.
Another method is site-specific. Once the variability of the field is understood, it is divided into relatively uniform plots, which are then managed individually. Benchmark sampling is the continued sampling at the same location. Within these same areas, 15-20 samples are randomly collected and analyzed. More than one benchmark area per field may be chosen if variable landscapes occur with the field as this method does not properly address field variability. Grid sampling breaks the fields into smaller grids. It reveals fertility patterns by taking 10-15 samples in each cell. As the intensity of sampling increases the more accurate the fertility patterns will be, but that can add to the cost.
Farming can be both high-yield and sustainable
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Innovative Design for Manure Storage Facilities
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
Environmental concerns about the integrity of manure storage facilities have been raised in many regions across the country. Often concerns regarding potential leakage have motivated the public to resist the development of large-scale agricultural facilities. A recent survey performed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Quebec reported that of the 28 concrete tanks that have been inspected, 23 tanks show serious deterioration of the walls (i.e., vertical and horizontal cracks). Hog manure storage is a major constraint on confined animal production systems. Expanding levels of production, particularly in the hog industry, are making the problem more severe. In the past, liquid manure has commonly been stored in earth lagoons. Increasing environmental concerns related to ground seepage have led to the requirement that more impervious structures be designed and built. This has augmented the use of steel-reinforced concrete for hog-manure storage tanks above ground. The challenge of reinforced concrete is its long-term stability, which controls the so-called durability or service life of concrete structures. Due to the hostile service environment associated with manure storage, corrosion rates of the steel reinforcement are potentially high. These deterioration rates could lead to a significant mechanical weakening and finally to a relatively short service life of the tanks. To map out the various mechanisms through which the strength of conventional reinforced concrete currently used for manure storage tanks may be improved, thereby to increase the safe service life of the tanks, this research program, entitled the Innovative Design for Manure Storage Facilities Project, has been initiated by the Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence on Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structure (ISIS Canada). This project was developed in collaboration with Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI), the Manitoba Triple S Hog Manure Management Initiative and Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative (MLMMI).