Practices to Reduce Dust and Particulates from Livestock Operations Flowchart

Practices to control dust and particulate emissions associated with livestock can be applied to animal housing and manure storage areas. This fact sheet is designed to provide producers with information on relative costs and effectiveness of dust and particulate control practices. This fact sheet accompanies, Practices to Reduce Dust and Particulates from Livestock Operations , (PM 1973a).https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/extension_ag_pubs/1176/thumbnail.jp

Practices to Reduce Dust and Particulates from Livestock Operations

Practices to control particulate and dust emissions associated with livestock production can be applied to animal housing and manure storage areas. This document provides an overview of various practices for each situation, highlights their advantages and disadvantages, and allows producers to make informed choices after evaluating production and economic aspects of their operationshttps://lib.dr.iastate.edu/extension_ag_pubs/1175/thumbnail.jp

Downwind Air Quality Measurements From Poultry and Livestock Facilities

Air samples were collected at and downwind from poultry, dairy and swine facilities during two summer sampling periods. Samples were analyzed, onsite, by an electronic nose and a Jerome meter for H2S concentration. Collected air samples were analyzed using olfactometry and gas chromatography. Data were analyzed to determine specie and site differences for gaseous concentrations and odor. From collected data, equations for downwind concentrations for gaseous compounds and odor were developed. Prediction equations for odor were developed from analytes quantified by gas chromatography. Correlations between olfactometry measures and both electronic nose and gaseous concentrations were determined. H2S was best correlated to odor. Climatic conditions influenced odor, H2S and gaseous compound concentrations. Management practices are an important factor in determining emissions from animal feeding operations; perhaps of equal or greater importance than the specie itself. Identification of specific compounds that likely contribute to malodor and, in particular, relate to observed differences in odors emanating from production facilities of different species, can be used in conjunction with specie-specific siting tools. Concentrations of particulates and gases generated from this study will be used to further develop such tools

Dairy manure quantification and characterization in grazing systems

Information is needed on the amount and nutrient concentrations of manure generated by lactating dairy cows that are managed in an intensive grazing system. Currently the most frequently cited data sources for these are 20-year old ASAE tables. These data are important because manure nutrient figures are used to determine the maximum animal stocking density that will safeguard against nutrient runoff or degradation of water quality by concentrated nutrients

A Review of Practices and Technologies for Odor Control in Swine Production Facilities

The objective of this article is to provide a systematic review on practices and technologies for odor control in swine production facilities and to summarize available data on odor reduction effectiveness of promising technologies, as well as provide information on key parameters and associated costs. Odors from swine facilities comprise hundreds of chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOC), ammonia (NH₃), and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). The medians of emission rates from swine houses in literature are 5 OU/s/pig for odor, and 0.4, 2.8, and 0.1 kg/yr/pig for VOC, NH₃, and H₂S respectively. The medians of emission rates from swine manure storage facilities in literature are 5 OU/s/m2 for odor, and 1.4, 2.1, and 0.2 kg/yr/pig for VOC, NH₃, and H₂S, respectively. Facility maintenance and management practices to reduce impact of odor are reviewed in regard to regular cleaning of facilities, ventilation, floor design, drainage and manure removal systems, frequent manure removal, manure storage, and odor separation distances. Approaches to control odor and air pollution can be classified into three categories: ration/diet modification, manure treatment, capture/treatment of emitted gases and enhanced dispersion. Each of these mitigation approaches includes several specific technologies, which are summarized in tables with an evaluation of overall cost and brief comments on advantages or limitations of each technology. Diet modification strategies have been shown to reduce NH₃ emissions effectively with low cost and should be considered as a best management practices, although their effectiveness in reducing odor is still uncertain. Permeable covers and biofilters seem to have great potential to be the most promising and cost effective technologies for manure storage facilities and swine houses respectively. However, both of the technologies need careful maintenance to perform effectively. Care must be taken to select technologies that are compatible with the management capabilities of the operation to prevent potential failure due to mismanagement

Influence of Dietary Incorporation of Bloodmeal on Nursery Pig Manure Composition and Odor

Specific dietary ingredients may have the potential to alter manure odor by altering digestive patterns or fermentation or by masking manure odorants. Inclusion of dietary bloodmeal (BM) into nursery pig diets resulted in a slight, but insignificant, increase in manure odor intensity. Electronic nose response to manure odor moderately mimicked human response

The growclusters Package for R

The growclusters package for R implements an enhanced version of k-means clustering that allows discovery of local clusterings or partitions for a collection of data sets that each draw their cluster means from a single, global partition. The package contains functions to estimate a partition structure for multivariate data. Estimation is performed under a penalized optimization derived from Bayesian non-parametric formulations. This paper describes some of the functions and capabilities of the growclusters package, including the creation of R Shiny applications designed to visually illustrate the operation and functionality of the growclusters package.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, paper presented at 2022 Joint Statistical Meeting

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Whole Farm Nutrient Balance Under Different Grazing Systems: Project Overview

The amount of phosphorus (P) in surface runoff from agricultural lands is of concern because of the potential for eutrophication of Iowa’s waterways. Currently, there is limited information about the total P loads in surface runoff coming from pastureland in the Midwest. Much of the P runoff is likely associated with sediment. Because foliage limits soil disruption caused by the impact of raindrops and because forage roots hold soil particles, forages harvested at an appropriate height, through suitable grazing management, should maintain water infiltration and minimize sediment and P loss in surface runoff from pastures. Grazing management may influence utilization of P by the animal, by impacting P digestibility. The objective of this project is to quantify P flows through systems operated under different grazing management practices. Figure 1 illustrates P inputs and outputs in the grazing system

Grazing System Effects on Enteric Methane Emissions from Cows in Southern Iowa Pastures

Forage mass and nutritional quality were measured in the total forage monthly from May through September and in live forage in the upper half of the sward in June and August and related to body weights, body condition scores and daily methane emissions in pastures grazed at a stocking rate of 1.98 cows per hectare by continuous, rotational or strip-stocking at a limited forage allowance over 3 years. Strip stocking tended to increase total forage mass in comparison to continuous or rotational stocking from July through October, while increasing in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) and decreasing neutral detergent fiber (NDF) concentrations in the total live forage compared to continuous stocking in August through October. Strip stocking increased the live forage mass in the upper half of the sward in August, but live forage in the upper half of the sward in rotationally stocked pastures had greater IVDMD and crude protein concentrations than pastures grazed by continuous or strip-stocking and lower NDF concentrations than pastures grazed by strip-stocking in August. Cow body weights and condition scores of cows in strip-stocked pastures in mid to late season were lower than cows in continuously or rotationally stocked pastures, but daily methane emissions in June or August did not significantly differ between stocking systems. Results imply limiting intake of lower quality pasture forage has negative effects on cow body weight and condition while not affecting daily methane emissions