Swine Odor Control A Tough Ho
(Continued from Pag* A 1)
pits, outside storage structures, and
insights into the university’s own
encounter with odor litigation on
their college farm in lowa.
One thing producers should
keep in mind, noted Bundy, was
that “no additive can apply to any
thing except in the pit,” he said.
“Not all odors are generated from
the slurry basin.” Odors can be
generated Cram the slats in the
houses, from the pigs, and from
equipment
In the case of studying pit addi
tives, many companies paid for the
research into their application
and some companies “tell us how
to report” the information, Bundy
noted. Product rate use varied.
hi all, about2s-30 different pro
ducts for below-ground manure
pits were analyzed for their effec
tiveness in the studies.
About 3-4 years ago, a program
to measure odors was put in place
y ,
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to help study additives. A system
of being able to measure odors was
first needed. “If you cannot mea
sure odors,” Bundy said, “you
can’t compare management sys
tems to deal with them.”
“Olfactometry” is the technical
method used to analyze odors.
Two different types of odor mea
surements are used a scentome
ter and a dilution olfactometer.
Both methods make best use of
the only real reliable way to “mea
sure” an odor the human nose.
The scentometer can measure
recognizable odors in parts, from
1 5 parts per million (ppm) to 350.
An odor is recognized by a human
subject at 7:1, noted Bundy, where
one part is odorous and seven ate
nonodorous. hi odor litigation,
Connecticut and parts of Texas use
the scentometer, which measures
the odor at die property line. Mis
souri is considering use of the
scentometer under the same
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You know how to bounce back. So does this DEKALB alfalfa lineup. With
fast recovery rates and healthy stands, these persistent varieties take a punch
and still deliver high yield and superior forage quality. And they keep their
guard up against potato leafhoppers. Sclerotinia and Aphanomyces race 2,
It's alfalfa that doesn't know when to quit. Kind of tike you.
Real people working real hard?
New directors of the Pork Board were elected. Attar right is Brent Hershey, presi
dent of LanChester Pork Producers. New directors are, from left, Scott Bailey. Ephra
ta; Nelson Beam, Elverson; and Kurtis Good, Denver.
Lancatw Farming, Saturday, December 19, 1998-A33
To Handle
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etmocKALa
conditions.
For the most part,
many odors aren’t
dangerous, in the quan
tities released into the
air, from swine opera
tions. They are merely
nuisance odors that,
with several steps, can
be controlled.
The two main odors
under scrutiny are
ammonia and hydrogen
sulfide. “If we reduce
those two, we got it
made,” Bundy said.
The accepted maxi
mum safe level of
ammonia is 25 ppm: the
odor is detected at 5
ppm. For hydrogen sul
fide, maximum safe
level is lOppm; the odor
is detected from 50-100
parts per billion (ppb).
Bundy noted that, agi
tating pit manure can
readily raise the hydro
gen sulfide gases to
dangerous levels, at
1,000 ppm. The deadly
gas can 101 l livestock
and humans.
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Measuring odor
threshold using the dilu
tion olfactometer simp
ly makes use of two
separate volumes—one
of odorous air, with the
gas, and the other with
fresh, nonodorous air.
Germany uses this
method to determine
odor thresholds. Some
cities, including Hous
ton and Sioux City, are
using this method to
measure odor.
In a European study,
scientists discovered
that 22' percent of Jfae
odors were produced
from swine buildings,
17 percent from slurry
storage, and 52 percent
from spreading manure.
In studies undertaken by
lowa State University,
different methods of
containing storage and
application odor tests
were undertaken.
Included in the lowa
study, biocovers
(including com stalks
and wheat straw, in
addition to using bub-