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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:
Regional Nutrient Balances
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments
A nutrient balance model was developed for the Municipalities of Hanover, La Broquerie, Roland and Sifton in Manitoba. The model tracks and estimates all nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous) inputs, outputs, and losses to the environment for the agricultural industry. The objectives of this study were to: evaluate the reliability of such a model at both the municipal and farm levels; determine gaps in the knowledge base necessary to implement a nutrient balance model as a planning or regulatory tool; and to provide a preliminary assessment of the nutrient balance in four municipalities that represent a matrix of high and low density crop and livestock production. Four farms in each of the four municipalities were also used to evaluate the budget model. The purpose of these farm budgets was to further test and evaluate the many estimates of nutrient losses that naturally occur in the nitrogen and phosphorous cycles. An extensive literature review was conducted to review previous work on nutrient budgets. The nutrient flows in an agricultural ecosystem, including inputs, outputs, transfers and losses from the plant, animal and soil pools were investigated. The literature review focused primarily on the central-northern Great Plains area of North America to ensure that the data would be applicable to soil and climate characteristics of Manitoba. Considerable data for the municipal model was obtained from the 2001 Census of Agriculture, Manitoba Crop Insurance Corporation records, and a proprietary spatial Grain Flow Model developed by Warkentine and Associates, a local consultant with specialized expertise in the analysis of grain flows in Western Canada. Primary data for the farm-scale budgets was provided by the cooperating farmers. Extensive interviews were also conducted with fertilizer dealers to verify current fertilizer practices by crop producers in Manitoba. The study found that in areas such as Hanover and La Broquerie, which have a significant intensive livestock industry, the importation of large quantities of nutrients in feed is contributing to a build-up of nutrients in the soil on a regional basis. Manure, however, is not the only source of nutrients that must be considered. The farm case studies confirmed previous studies indicating an excessive buildup of nutrients in soils from the over-application of chemical fertilizers is common. Notwithstanding the apparent increase in nutrients in these municipalities due to manure, the environmental risks to water resources may not have increased proportionally. The literature review found that the loss of nutrients from fields receiving inorganic fertilizers can be greater than fields receiving manure. Both sources and transport factors have to be considered in assessing transport risk. Better farm management practices are needed to prevent a build-up of available soil nutrients, regardless of the source of crop nutrients and the size of the farm unit. Regulations to address this issue should be consistent with this principle. Annual soil testing, for example, is practiced by approximately ten percent of producers on approximately one-quarter of their fields in any one year. The losses of nitrogen and phosphorous to the environment comprise a significant component of the nutrient cycle. Nitrogen losses were equivalent to 35 to 79 percent of outputs, and phosphorous losses were between two and 16 percent of outputs. Some loss of nutrients is a natural part of the nutrient cycle. Further research is necessary to quantify the various losses under a
Asdditivity of Apparent ileal and Fecal Phosphorus Digestibility Values Measured in a Single Feed Ingredients for Growing-Finishing Pigs
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Two experiments were conducted to determine apparent ileal and fecal P digestibility values in barley, wheat, peas and canola meal and to examine whether the apparent P digestibility values measured in single feed ingredients are additive when used in diet formulation for growing-finishing pigs. In both experiments, five barrows, with average initial body weights of 40 and 35 kg, were fitted with a simple T-cannula at the distal ileum and fed five diets according to a 5 x 5 Latin square design. In exp. 1, the barrows were fed five diets (diets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) formulated to contain five graded levels of barley (0, 22.5, 45.0, 67.5 and 90%, respectively) and canola meal (42.7, 36.6, 30.5, 24.4 and 0%, respectively). In exp. 2, the barrows were fed five diets (diets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) formulated to contain five graded levels of wheat (88.5, 66.4, 44.3, 22.1 and 0%, respectively) and peas (0, 16.8, 33.6, 50.4 and 67.1%, respectively). Chromic oxide (0.4%) was used as a digestibility marker in both experiments. The pigs were fed twice daily, at 0800 and 2000. The dietary allowance was 1800 g d(-1). Each experimental period lasted 8 d. Representative fecal samples were collected during days 5 and 6. Ileal digesta were collected for a total of 24 h, at 2-h intervals, during days 7 and 8. The ileal and fecal P digestibility values in barley, wheat, peas and canola meal were associated with large standard errors, suggesting a large variability within each feed ingredient. There were no differences (P > 0.05) between the directly determined and predicted apparent fecal P digestibility values in diets 2, 3 and 4 of exp. 1. However, there were differences (P < 0.05) between the directly. determined and the predicted apparent fecal P digestibility values in diets 3 (46.5 +/- 1.0 vs. 38.7 +/- 0.6) and 4 (48.2 +/- 1.2 vs. 41.6 +/- 1.2) in exp. 2, indicating that apparent fecal P digestibility values are not always additive in diet formulation. It is concluded that apparent P digestibility values are variable and not very reliable in diet formulation for swine.
AMMONIA VOLATILIZATION FROM CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS THAT TREAT SWINE WASTEWATER
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Slurry Application Techniques to reduce Ammonia Emissions: Results of some UK Field-scale Experiments
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Shallow injection, trailing shoe and band spreading machines were evaluated, in terms of their potential for reducing ammonia (NH3) emission, by making measurements after application and in direct comparison with surface broadcast applied cattle slurry (pig slurry on one occasion). Several sets of comparative measurements were made with each type of machine on both grassland and arable land (mostly cereal stubbles), covering a range of soil, crop and weather conditions. Measurements of NH3 emissions were made for 5a
Exposure and respiratory health in farming in temperate zonesa
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EFFECTS OF MANURE REMOVAL STRATEGIES ON ODOR AND GAS EMISSION FROM SWINE FINISHING
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Odor, ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations and emission rates were measured in two small rooms of finishing pigs with different manure removal strategies. The strategies included daily flush, and static pits with 7-, 14-, and 42-d storage times with and without pit recharge. Tests were conducted with three successive groups of 25 pigs per room. Pigs were fed standard corn-soybean diets. Ammonia and H2S concentrations were automatically measured 15 to 24 times per day. Odor samples were collected and evaluated for odor concentration, intensity and hedonic tone by an odor panel, whose performance was verified with a reference odorant. Geometric mean odor emission rates were 19, 33, and 29 OUE s-1 AU-1 (OUE = European odor unit equivalent to 123 A
Methane emissions from swine lagoons in Southeastern US
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Use of liquid hog manure for sustainable forage production
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Manitoba Agriculture and Food and Turtle Mountain Conservation District, with financial assistance from Covering New Ground, established two demonstration sites in the Killarney area. The focus of the project was to measure the effects of hog manure on the yield and quality of tame and native pastures, and to look at these pastures ability to support grazing livestock. Complementary focus was placed on evaluating crop nutrient uptake by conducting soil tests before fertilization and following the growing season. The tame pasture consisted of a tall fescue- alfalfa mixture. The native pasture had been sod-seeded with alfalfa in 1999, but was dominated by native grass species. Forage clippings were taken on August 20-21. Forage quality was consistently better when fertilized. Energy content (measured in Total Digestible Nutrient) was also greater when pastures were fertilized. Soil tests taken following the growing season showed that soil N and P were, in most cases; lower than pre-fertilization soil N and P. This indicates that the actively growing vegetation had taken up the applied nutrients. Manure also had a positive effect on forage yield and forage quality. The yield increases in particular had an effect on the carrying capacity of fertilized pastures vs. unfertilized pastures. Actively growing forages use manure nutrients well, as indicated by the post-growing season deficiencies in both soil N and P. Other benefits of using liquid hog manure on forage crops are the expansion of the practical spreading season from traditional spring and fall demand peaks. As forages have much higher N and P requirements than most annual crops they also allow a reduction in spread acres required.