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

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

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

CO2 Balance and Estimation of Ventilation Rates in Animal Studies

The CO 2 emissions were measured in environmental rooms in 15 animal operation studies, including studies of dairy cow, steer, swine, turkey, laying hen and broiler. The objectives of this paper are to summarize CO 2 emission data in these 15 studies;, to investigate the possible diet effect; and to evaluate the performance of the CO 2 balance approach to estimate ventilation rate (VR) of animal houses. Lower CO 2 emissions were observed from steers fed diets containing 60% DDGs as compared to that from steers fed the control diets (0% DDGs). Significant differences in CO2 emissions were observed among different studies for each species of broiler, laying hen, swine, and steer, which could be the result of different management practices, different stages of production, or different weather conditions. In 10 out of the 15 studies, the measured CO2 emissions were significantly larger than the estimated CO2 productions, which could represent the corresponding amount of CO2 generation that was not accounted in the metabolic CO 2 production as well as uncertainties in measurements of CO2 emissions. The overall R2 was 0.97 when treating each of the 15 studies as one data point. The relative differences between measured and estimated VR were in the range of 6.3% to 20.5%. Uncertainties in estimated VR in dairy cow studies were relatively large because the relatively large variations in measured CO2 emissions in these studies were not well represented by the relatively constant estimated CO2 production values

Effects of Forage Maturity on Phosphorus Digestion in Beef Cows

For environmental reasons, minimizing phosphorus excretion from cattle is of great interest. Current estimates of forage phosphorus digestibility by cattle consider that phosphorus digestibility does not change with composition of the pasture. To better estimate phosphorus (P) excretion, estimates of P digestibility for forages of different compositions are needed. Four crossbred cow/calf pairs were stocked on four pastures managed with grazing (G) or grazing with hay removal (G/H). Forage was maintained in paddocks at 50% removal. Collected pasture samples and fecal samples from cows administered chromic oxide were analyzed for P, NDF, and ADL contents. Rumen evacuations of steers were conducted to evaluate composition of consumed forage for each treatment. Forage analyzed from paddocks where steers grazed demonstrated no grazing management effects on composition, which was evidenced by no differences in composition of rumen contents of the steers. Analysis of the 13th rib bone concludes the cattle were not deficient in phosphorus. Year 1 results suggest that pastures managed under a combination of grazing and initial hay removal resulted in greater P content of the forage and concomitant increased P excretion by cows consuming that forage. There was no treatment effect for P retention, however a there was a date effect with the G treatment having higher P retention in July and September. These results verify that grazing management practices can have a substantial effect on water pollution potential

Management Impacts on Ammonia Volatilization from Swine Manure

Ammonia released from swine manure into the air is becoming an increasingly controversial topic in Iowa. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of several management strategies to reduce ammonia volatilization from swine manure over time. In six benchtop trials using twenty-four 1-L manure storage vessels, treatments were applied to the vessels, and manure and air samples were analyzed for concentrations of ammonia and other forms of nitrogen. Segregated storage of urine and feces, keeping manure cool and still, addition of yucca extract, and acidification reduced ammonia volatilization