U of M Study Examines Odor Measurement, Quantification and Control
Farmscape for October 23, 2002 (Episode 1098) A new study conducted by the University of Manitoba has evaluated a range of potential strategies for addressing odor in prairie swine operations. The 'Study of Odor Production, Evaluation and Control' was conducted by the U of M's Biosystems Engineering Department on behalf of the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative. Dr. Qiang Zhang says researchers examined existing scientific literature to determine the status of odor research around the world and identify odor control strategies with potential for Manitoba. Clip-Dr. Qiang Zhang-University of Manitoba Odor is a complicated issue. Just measuring odor has been a challenge to researchers and to regulatory agencies so that's one area we looked into. The second area we looked into is the quantification of odors. People have been talking about odor as a problem but the questions are how big is the problem and what scale are we talking about. We looked into odor emission rates from the buildings, odor emissions from manure storages, odor emissions from land application and from mortality disposal sites. The third area, in general, we looked at the control strategies. That action has quite a few sub headings. We looked at manure handling systems in barn, different storage systems, different manure treatment facilities and technologies and the latest developments in these areas. The 100 page report can be accessed on the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative web site at manure.mb.ca. Dr. Zhang says it offers baseline information on odor emission rates and guidelines on different strategies and technologies for controlling odor. He says it's fairly broad but it contains enough detail to allow producers to evaluate particular strategies and he hopes it will serve as a guideline for those working in the area of odor. For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane. *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council