An automated scraper system for swine confinement facilities (2011)

Manure scrapers are a practical and cost-effective option for mitigating odor and gas emissions from confinement livestock operations. Manure scrapers have been used successfully to reduce odors at free-stall dairies and to reduce H2S emissions at research-scale swine facilities. Recent evaluation of a scraper system at commercial tunnel-ventilated swine barns in northwest Missouri showed odor concentrations in a scraper barn were significantly lower than those in flush barns. Unlike flushing, the scraping process does not cause significant increases in odor concentration. In addition to offering a practical alternative to flushing for odor control, a scraper system aids in collecting manure for biogas production by anaerobic digestion

Considerations of pull-plug sedimentation basin for dairy manure management

"Many small dairy farms have limited practical and easy-to-operate options for manure management. A flush system for manure removal is attractive due to reduced chore time and increased barn cleanliness. However, flush systems require greater attention to onsite water management that result from having to store water with high nutrient and solids concentrations. There are several different types of lagoons commonly employed for agricultural use. Lagoons designed for treatment and solids reduction via digestion can be aerobic or facultative/anaerobic. Anaerobic treatment lagoons can be ideal for many agricultural applications when it comes to water and manure management. The lagoon, typically 8-15 feet deep, provides some digestion of manure solids while serving as a holding basin when land application is not possible due to frozen ground or saturated soils. Storage lagoons are another type that aren't designed for the purpose of solids reduction but, rather, for holding water or a water and solids slurry in order to better manage the on-farm water inventory. A portion of lagoon volume is designated for holding solids, regardless of the purpose or type of the lagoon. Solids removal prior to a lagoon may help increase lagoon capacity and reduce, if not eliminate, the need for costly lagoon dredging."--First page.Written by Tim Canter (Extension Specialist, Agricultural Systems Management), Teng Teeh Lim (Associate Professor, Agricultural Systems Management), Troy Chockley (Environmental Engineer, USDA-N)New 10/20Includes bibliographical reference

Lagoon solids removal and solid separation improvement at a dairy farm

Written by Teng Teeh Lim (Extension Professor, Agricultural Systems Technology), Tim Canter (Extension Specialist, Agricultural Systems Technology), Joseph Zulovich (Assistant Extension Professor, Agricultural Systems Technology). Reviewed by Joseph Heywood Harrison (Professor, Nutrient Management Specialist, Washington State University), Gilbert Miito (Ph.D. Candidate, Washington State University)."Lagoons can be an effective means of treating and storing flushed manure and providing a holding basin for recycling water. A lagoon is a key component to a successful flush dairy. If the lagoon is properly designed and built, many years can go by without any significant maintenance requirements to the system outside of water management, pumps, and valves. Water management, in this context, consists of pumping liquid supernatant from the lagoon to be spread on fields as supplemental crop fertilizer. Depending on rainfall, drawdown (pumping) of the lagoon may be needed one or more times per year to manage the water inventory." --Page 1Teng Teeh Lim (Extension Professor, Agricultural Systems Technology), Tim Canter (Extension Specialist, Agricultural Systems Technology), Joseph Zulovich (Assistant Extension Professor, Agricultural Systems Technology)New 4/2022; Reviewed 5/2022Includes bibliographical reference

Mixing-vessel composting system at a large swine finishing farm

Reviewed by Joseph Heywood Harrison, Professor, Nutrient Management Specialist, Washington State University, andLide Chen, Associate Professor, Nutrient Management Specialist, University of Idaho."On-farm manure treatment can be challenging for many animal feeding operations, especially for those who have limited nearby fields for manure land application. To date, very few large-scale animal farms utilize composting as a long-term treatment for liquid manure. Composting is a biological process in which microorganisms convert organic materials into soillike material, which can effectively convert animal manure into value-added products. Compost has been well-documented and proven to be an excellent soil conditioner, which could add organic matter, improve soil structure, reduce fertilizer requirements, and reduce soil erosion potential."--First page.Written by Zonggang Li (Post Doctoral fellow, Agricultural Systems Technology), Gilbert J. Miito (Post Doctoral fellow, Agricultural Systems Technology), Teng Teeh Lim (Extension Professor, Agricultural Systems Technology). Reviewed by Joseph Heywood Harrison, Professor, Nutrient Management Specialist, Washington State University, andLide Chen, Associate Professor, Nutrient Management Specialist, University of Idaho.Includes bibliographical reference

Composting dead swine (2016)

The Missouri Dead Animal Law requires that an animal carcass be properly disposed of within 24 hours of death. Missouri has five acceptable methods of carcass disposal: rendering, composting, landfilling, incineration and burial. This publication discusses static, or passive, composting as a means of complying with the dead animal law for swine operations

An automated scraper system for swine confinement facilities (2018)

"Manure scrapers are a practical and cost-effective option for mitigating odor and gas emissions from confinement livestock operations. Manure scrapers have been used successfully to reduce odors at free-stall dairies and to reduce H2S emissions at research-scale swine facilities. Recent evaluation of a scraper system at commercial tunnel-ventilated swine barns in northwest Missouri showed odor concentrations in a scraper barn were significantly lower than those in flush barns. Unlike flushing, the scraping process does not cause significant increases in odor concentration. In addition to offering a practical alternative to flushing for odor control, a scraper system aids in collecting manure for biogas production by anaerobic digestion. Scraper systems can be incorporated into existing deep-or shallow-pit flushing barns, or they can be designed for new construction. The cost of installing a scraper system in an existing 1,000-head finisher building is about $7,200, and the time spent on maintenance of the system is estimated at three hours per week. Assuming that each scraper system operates 12 times a day at an electricity rate of$0.08 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the monthly cost of electricity consumption by the scraper system is $8.20 per barn."--Page 1.Teng Teeh Lim (Extension Agricultural Engineer, Commercial Agriculture Program and Food Systems and Bioengineering, University of Missouri), David B. Parker (Research Leader, Environmental Management Research Unit, USDA-ARS, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska)New 10/11/Web--Page 4 ; Reviewed November 2018--MU Extension website (viewed June 2019). PDF is the same as the 2011 publication

Relevant Information Sources in the Vast and Complex Manure Nutrient Management Network

To understand and delineate pathways for effective information transfer among professional audiences in manure nutrient management, we deployed a survey, taken by 964 professionals, addressing workforce demographics, tasks performed, and information source relevance. Findings indicate that education of industry and the public is a widespread effort among the multiple organizations represented. The average relevance of different types of information sources was consistent across various organization types. Compared to mass media sources, information sources that were technical and individual- or group-oriented in nature were more relevant to respondents representing all organization types and levels of knowledge. Opportunities exist for translation of the findings presented to other networks of entities working toward common objectives

Quality-Assured Measurements of Animal Building Emissions: Particulate Matter Concentrations

Federally funded, multistate field studies were initiated in 2002 to measure emissions of particulate matter (PM) \u3c10 μm (PM10) and total suspended particulate (TSP), ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, non-methane hydrocarbons, and odor from swine and poultry production buildings in the United States. This paper describes the use of a continuous PM analyzer based on the tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM). In these studies, the TEOM was used to measure PM emissions at identical locations in paired barns. Measuring PM concentrations in swine and poultry barns, compared with measuring PM in ambient air, required more frequent maintenance of the TEOM. External screens were used to prevent rapid plugging of the insect screen in the PM10 preseparator inlet. Minute means of mass concentrations exhibited a sinusoidal pattern that followed the variation of relative humidity, indicating that mass concentration measurements were affected by water vapor condensation onto and evaporation of moisture from the TEOM filter. Filter loading increased the humidity effect, most likely because of increased water vapor adsorption capacity of added PM. In a single layer barn study, collocated TEOMs, equipped with TSP and PM10 inlets, corresponded well when placed near the inlets of exhaust fans in a layer barn. Initial data showed that average daily mean concentrations of TSP, PM10, and PM2.5concentrations at a layer barn were 1440 ± 182 μg/m3 (n = 2), 553 ± 79 μg/m3 (n = 4), and 33 ± 75 μg/m3 (n = 1), respectively. The daily mean TSP concentration (n =1) of a swine barn sprinkled with soybean oil was 67% lower than an untreated swine barn, which had a daily mean TSP concentration of 1143 ± 619 μg/m3. The daily mean ambient TSP concentration (n = 1) near the swine barns was 25 ± 8 μg/m3. Concentrations of PM inside the swine barns were correlated to pig activity

Development of site-specific odor impact distance guideline for swine production system

The determination of odor-based setbacks for swine facilities is an important issue for the pork production industry. Sufficient setbacks prevent costly nuisance complaints and lawsuits, and excessive setbacks stifle expansion. Therefore, a science-based setback estimation tool to guide and educate livestock producers and regulators is needed. This dissertation describes the measurement of odor and gas emissions from commercial swine nurseries, of finishing pigs housed in environmental rooms, and from anaerobic treatments of swine manure. An eight-member odor panel evaluated odor concentration with a dynamic olfactometer and odor intensity and hedonic tone at full strength. Odor emission rate can be regarded as the total odor load per unit of time leaving a particular process. The product of odor concentrations and volumetric airflow (e.g. from ventilation exhausts of buildings, flux chamber, or across land) gives the rate of odor emission in OU/s. State of the art equipment were applied to the research for measuring gas concentrations, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide. A new simple-to-use, site-specific setback guideline was developed specifically for U.S. swine production facilities. The guideline at least partially accounts for wind frequency, land use, topography, orientation and shape, facility size, building design and management, manure handling characteristics, and odor abatement effectiveness. Odor emission factors were based in part on actual odor emission measurements and research included in this dissertation. The guideline is now a planning and educational tool for determining odor impact distance from swine facilities. An interactive version of the guideline has been published on the World Wide Web at www.agairquality.com

Dead animal disposal laws in Missouri

"Original author: Charles D. Fulhage.""Original legislation for the management of dead animals in Missouri was developed in the 1940s. As livestock operations grew larger and more sophisticated means of animal production, transport, slaughtering and processing were developed, the legislation became outdated. New legislation was developed and the Missouri Dead Animal Disposal Statute was passed by the 86th General Assembly and became law on Aug. 28, 1992. This law does not apply to wildlife. Regulations of disposal of dead animals can be found in the Missouri Revised Statues, Chapter 269 Disposal of Dead Animals."--First page.Teng Teeh Lim (Extension Agricultural Engineer, Agricultural Engineering Extension / Agricultural Systems Technology), Joseph Zulovich (Extension Agricultural Engineer, Agricultural Engineering Extension / Agricultural Systems Technology