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Swine waste and odor research
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Systems
approach offers promise in management
[NOV.
12, 2003]
URBANA -- A systems and
design component of a $6 million, five-year swine odor and waste
management research project has yielded several recommendations for
producers, said Gay Miller, a University of Illinois professor of
veterinary pathobiology who led that component.
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"Our component served as an integrating
and field-testing unit for the work done in other components of the
project," Miller explained. "Research findings from these other
projects were incorporated and used either directly or indirectly in
our work."
The research was funded by the Illinois
Council on Food and Agricultural Research. The final reports of
Miller and other researchers associated with the multi-university,
interdisciplinary project will be part of the U of I's Dec. 11-12
Pork Industry Conference in Champaign. People interested in learning
more about or attending the conference should contact Gilbert Hollis
at (217) 333-0013 or
hollisg@uiuc.edu.
Miller's work included land application
considerations in managing swine manure, on-farm surveys to examine
air quality differences between deep-pit and shallow-pit finishing
buildings, modeling projects, an odor emission and control
technologies workshop, and U of I Teams for Environmental Response
and Mitigation, a program designed to assist swine producers faced
with environmental pollution or nuisance complaints.
"With UI-TERM, a producer can request a
team to visit his or her farm; the team works with the producer to
develop strategies and solutions for these problems," Miller said.
"While solving the farm's immediate pollution problem was a primary
goal, a team was selected to address other areas of concern to the
producer -- for example, facility engineering, animal health,
nutrition or economics."
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The systems design and management
component reached five main conclusions, she noted.
"Manure management plans can be
developed by producers in order to achieve full economic value from
nutrients in swine manure," she said.
"Second, if producers take this
strategy, they should understand that full use of manure nutrients
requires a much larger land area than a cost-minimizing disposal
strategy typical of many current operations.
"Third, deep-pit systems have lower
odor concentrations in air emitted even after accounting for pig
inventory, dustiness, barn cleanliness, problems with dunging, and
temperature; but as manure depth in the building increases, so does
odor, such that odor in these buildings will exceed shallow-pit
systems if there is enough manure depth.
"Fourth,
nutrient requirement estimation may be the most profitable way in
terms of nutritional approaches to reduce nutrient excretion. And,
finally, the UI-TERM program can assist swine producers facing
environmental pollution or nuisance complaints."
[University
of Illinois news release]
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