Kenneth B. Kephart
Professor of Animal Science
Pennsylvania State University
Complaints of odors gener
ated by livestock operations
have intensified in recent years
as facilities have increased in
size. Many volatile organic and
inorganic compounds released
from livestock operations, par
ticularly swine facilities, have
objectionable odors.
The amount and strength of
the odor is influenced by the
type of manure storage facilities,
how and when the manure is ap
plied, and the presence of wet
and dusty surfaces in the live
stock facility.
The Process And
Perception Of Smell
Every odorant has a threshold
concentration. Below this con
centration, the odor compound
can not be detected. The area of
the brain that processes smell
overlaps with the area that con
trols emotion. For this reason,
unpleasant odors can affect
mood, and may prompt unpleas
ant memories.
In an odor study last summer,
we asked neighbors living near
Manure Odors From Livestock Operations
swine operations to evaluate
odor intensity daily over a six
week period. As expected,
neighbors closer to the swine
units, and those living to the east
and south reported higher odor
scores than those living further
away, and to the north and west.
But odor scores were also af
fected by a number of personal
factors. For example, if the
neighbor knew the swine pro
ducer well, if the farm was
perceived as attractive, if the
neighbor’s self-reported health
status was high and if the swine
facility was not visible from the
home or road, odor scores
recorded by neighbors tended to
decrease.
Personal factors that had little
or no impact on odor scores in
cluded: income, gender, age, ed
ucation, whether the neighbor
had been raised on a farm,
length of time the neighbor had
lived there, and the neighbor’s
reported knowledge of swine
production.
Response To Odors
An on-going area of research
is whether odors are simply a
nuisance, or a legitimate health
threat. Research conducted by
Susan Schiffraan at Duke Uni
versity shows that the mood of
people living near swine facili
ties is negatively affected during
the times they smell odors from
the facility. Diving our odor
study last summer, we com
pared responses of neighbors of
swine operations to those of
rural residents not living near
large livestock facilities. Both
groups reported identical overall
health scores.
Neighbors, however, indi
cated they experienced cough,
nausea, fatigue, and throat irri
tation more often than did non
neighbors. There were no
significant differences between
the two groups in regard to fre
quency of headaches, muscular
aches, chest tightness, depres
sion or anxiety. These results are
similar to those reported by
Kelly Donham’s laboratory at
lowa State University.
Dispersion Of Odors
An important aspect of odor
dispersion is that the width of
the odor plume changes very
little as it moves from the
source. Thus, wind blowing
across a 1,000-foot-wide field
with freshly applied manure will
potentially affect more people
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than wind blowing across a 300-
foot-wide manure application
area
During a sunny day, most of
the odors are carried up with
rising air currents. This is the
primary reason that neighbors
won’t notice odors as often or as
far away during days when the
Send Your Favorite Beef
Recipe To Enter Contest
The Pennsylvania Beef Coun
cil and Lancaster Farming are
sponsoring a beef recipe contest
to highlight the versatility and
nutritional value of beef. To
enter the drawing, pick out your
favorite recipe which includes a
substantial amount of beef or
veal.
Simply give us your favorite
recipe to prepare that steak,
roast, filet, or ground beef for
your hungry family and write a
short description on why the
recipe is such a hit with your
family.
Your recipe may fall into the
appetizer, soup, entree, vegeta
ble, snack and salad categories
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 29, 2000-A33
sky is clear.
During the night, the ground
is cool so there are no rising air
currents. In fact, when the air is
very stable, temperatures are
often inverted or upside down.
This means that the tempera
ture near the ground is lower.
or any other creative way to pre
pare and present beef and veal.
The deadline to enter recipes
is' Friday, August 25. Contest
winners will be printed in the
September 2 issue of Lancaster
Farming.
Send your entry immediately.
Winners will be selected by a
random drawing at the end of
August, however Lancaster
Farming will be printing beef
recipes throughout September.
Please clearly print or type
your recipe entry. Also be spe
cific and accurate with measure
ments, temperatures, times, and
sizes of baking dishes to use. We
may disqualify entries if these
guidelines are not followed.
Along with the recipe include your com
plete mailing address so we can send you a
prize if you are a winner. In addition please
enter one recipe per family. Contest partici
pants must be 18 or older.
Send entries to Lou Ann Good, Lancaster
Farming Beef Recipe Contest, P.O. Box 609,1
East Main Street, Ephrata, PA 17522.
The Pennsylvania Beef Council has fur
nished many terrific prizes to help you cook
up, grill up, baste up, and eat up beef any
style. Besides several full-color beef cook
books and aprons, prizes include gift certifi
cates to Hoss’s Steak House, Doc Holliday’s
Steakhouse, and Giant grocery store. You
may also win a 14-piece knife set in a counter
block, a 4-piece steak knife set, stainless steel
skewers, a roasting pan and rack, a basting
brush, meat thermometers, two grill tool sets,
and a grill mitt.