Environmental Challenges and Opportunities to Manure Handling

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2007

For many generations, animal manure has been used as organic fertiliser to grow various crops on Canadian farms. After numerous developments in manure treatments and technologies over the last 20 years, a large portion of swine manure produced every year is still land applied, as this agricultural practice continues to represent a sustainable way of managing nutrients. More recently, areas have emerged where swine production is concentrated and where it is no longer possible to simply handle manure as a raw crop fertiliser. Some of the factors responsible for that concentration include a decrease in the number of farms, increasing average farm size, access to feed, labour, packing plants, etc. Consequently, it is crucial to develop new production practices or manure treatment techniques to help the industry and protect the environment. Numerous research projects completed in Canada and elsewhere have clearly showed that excessive manure application rates can deteriorate soil conditions and water quality. Gaseous contaminants are also emitted from swine manure handling and contribute to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Raw swine manure can also contain pathogens representing some risks for human health. Under certain conditions, applying manure to the land can represent an environmental risk. When this risk is increased to a certain level by the combination of various factors, alternatives to land application need to be considered. Handling liquid manure still reduces labour and building capital costs, as was the case in the early eighties. However, liquid manure also brings numerous challenges and one option recently considered is the separation of feces and urine right at the source without producing liquid manure. This will slow down the manure degradation process, which will reduce odour emissions. If only few technologies were available to treat swine manure in Canada 10 years ago, there are now all kinds of options available on the market. Most of these treatment systems are based on the following basic principles: mechanical separation, aerobic or anaerobic digestion, nitrification/denitrification processes, aggregation, ultra-filtration, reverse osmoses, and biological treatment. Some of the technologies are ready to be used on farms and others are still in development. The selection of the best manure treatment system for a particular farm will require the professional assistance of competent and complementary resources. Research teams should continue to dedicate efforts in developing new production practices for the swine industry. Although more work has to be done to bring existing and promising manure treatment technologies to a level where they are more applicable and practical for farms, we need to think outside the box and review the overall production system. The potential impact of swine manure on the environment can be reduced using manure handling technologies. These technologies will improve the ambient air, water and soil quality. Continuous research and development efforts to identify new integrated strategies for manure handling will help the Canadian swine industry becoming even more sustainable.

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