Tag: abatement

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Elimination of Equine Streptococci from Soiled Equine Bedding


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Purpose            

Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi), causes the potentially fatal respiratory disease in horses known as “strangles”, while the closely related Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) causes potentially fatal infections in humans. A study was undertaken to determine the survival of these 2 organisms in compost and soiled bedding.

What did we do? 

Dacron bags were filled with a feedstock mixture of soiled equine bedding and feed waste at ratios of 3:1 (C:N ratio 40.6), 1:1 (C:N ratio 31.9), and 1:4 (C:N ratio 25.4). The Dacron bags were inoculated with S. zooepidemicus, and placed in 3 compost windrows of the same 3 feedstock ratios 24 h later. Streptococci were quantified at different time points. Next, S. equi was inoculated into Dacron bags then placed into a compost windrow of the same feedstock ratio. Streptococci were quantified. To rule out killing of both Streptococcal species by microflora during the 24 h storage period, samples of soiled equine bedding, both autoclaved and non-autoclaved, were inoculated with S. zooepidemicus and periodically sampled. A repeated study was conducted with S. equi. To determine the role of moisture on the killing of S. equi in equine waste, soiled equine bedding was dried at 37 °C for 48 h and sterile water then added to dried bedding.

What have we learned?             

Microbes in soiled equine bedding may eliminate Streptococci, indicating that normal compost microflora may provide sustainable methods for the control of human and animal pathogens.

Future Plans    

Future studies could assess the role of individual bacterial species in the abatement of Streptococci, and possible additives to a compost pile which might increase numbers of streptocidal organisms. In addition, compost could be examined to discover novel antibiotics or bacteriophages which may be used for disease control.

Corresponding author, title, and affiliation        

Alexandria Garcia, Graduate Student, University of Maine

Corresponding author email    

Alexandria.poulin@gmail.com

Other authors   

Dr. Robert Causey, Associate Professor at University of Maine, Scott Mitchell, Student, Kathleen Harvey, Student, Ashley Myer, Student, Mark Hutchison, Extension Professor, and Martin Stokes, Professor

Additional information               

Garcia, Alexandria, “Abatement of Streptococcus equi in Equine Compost” (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2435.

http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2435

Acknowledgements       

Maine Agricultural Center, Dr. M. Susan Erich, Mark Hutchinson

 

The authors are solely responsible for the content of these proceedings. The technical information does not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring agencies or institutions represented by planning committee members, and inclusion and distribution herein does not constitute an endorsement of views expressed by the same. Printed materials included herein are not refereed publications. Citations should appear as follows. EXAMPLE: Authors. 2017. Title of presentation. Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. Cary, NC. April 18-21, 2017. URL of this page. Accessed on: today’s date.

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Practical Use and Application of the Poultry Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool


Why Study Carbon Footprint on Poultry Farms?*          

The poultry industry is a major part of the agricultural industry in the United States, and an awareness of the carbon footprint of the industry is important for future growth and development. With carbon footprint estimated to be as high as 18% of total Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, changes in U.S. animal production systems will be a component in mitigating the impacts of the industry on climate change. Changes in GHG emissions from the poultry industry can be achieved only if the industry knows the levels of greenhouse gas emissions contributed as a result of poultry production.

What did we do? 

The Poultry Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool (PCFCT) was developed and designed specifically for poultry production farms. The tool can be used to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from pullet, breeder and broiler grow-out farms. While several life-cycle assessments have been completed for the production of poultry meat, there is no industry specific carbon footprint calculation tool available for the production phase of the poultry industry and since the poultry farmer only has control over the activities that take place on his farm, he can only make reductions of emissions at the farm-gate level. It is therefore important that a tool such as the PCFCT is available to deal with the farm level emissions.

The GHGs that are assessed are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane which are the gases of major concern in agriculture. The specific objectives of this study was to develop a computer-based, user-friendly calculation tool to assess greenhouse gas emissions from poultry farms and also to identify abatement strategies in on-farm management practices to reduce the footprint on farms. The user friendly PCFCT is an Excel spreadsheet into which the user will enter farm data to calculate the annual carbon footprint (Figure 1). The research included an assessment of the carbon footprint of test farms under industry management standards with focus placed on management practices and farm-expense data, particularly with regard to expenditures for energy-intensive inputs such as electricity and fuel which are the largest contributors to GHG emissions for poultry farms. This was used to identify potential areas of change.

The calculation tool was developed and then used to estimate the emissions from 30 test farms from three poultry companies in three different regions in Georgia.

What have we learned? 

We observed that the major sources of greenhouse gas that are emitted on poultry production farms were from gas use and manure management. Based on these observations, the tool was then equipped to recommend improvements to the farm, which would in turn show the user potential reductions in GHG emissions and cost savings if the recommended improvements were implemented. The results from the study showed that there were significant differences in emissions from mechanical sources and electricity use between the southern region and the northern and central regions of the state (Table 1). The differences observed could be a result of; climatic differences, the dead bird disposal methods and also the duration of time the flock is kept on the farm.

Table 1. Average Farm Emissions from three Broiler Complexes located in three different regions.

The tool is also very useful for record keeping as it is designed with a printable inventory which will allow users to track and compare their emissions from year to year. It is also equipped with bar charts to show the user their current emissions compared to projected emissions if they apply the recommended changes. A second graph shows the percentage of emission from each source.

Future Plans    

The tool will be made available on the departmental website (uga.poultry.edu) for poultry producers, poultry company environmental personnel and extension personnel to utilize. Articles relevant to the subject will also be made available to users of the tool. Other future plans include incorporation of other segments of the industry (layer and turkey) into the tool.

Authors       

Claudia Dunkley, Ext. Poultry Scientist cdunkley@uga.edu

Brian Fairchild, Ext. Poultry Scientist, Casey Ritz, Ext. Poultry Scientist, Brian Kiepper, Ext. Poultry Scientist, John Worley, Ext. Engineer

Additional information                

www.poultry.uga.edu

C. S. Dunkley, University of Georgia, 2360 Rainwater Rd., Tifton, GA 31793-0478

Acknowledgements      

Funded by US Poultry & Egg Association

Figure 1. The PCFCT Interface page showing areas where farm data will be inputted, recommendations can be tried and an inventory showing the emissions and projections based on recommendations can be seen.

The authors are solely responsible for the content of these proceedings. The technical information does not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring agencies or institutions represented by planning committee members, and inclusion and distribution herein does not constitute an endorsement of views expressed by the same. Printed materials included herein are not refereed publications. Citations should appear as follows. EXAMPLE: Authors. 2015. Title of presentation. Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. Seattle, WA. March 31-April 3, 2015. URL of this page. Accessed on: today’s date.

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Particulate matter from open lot dairies and cattle feeding: recent developments

The research community is making good progress in understanding the mechanical, biochemical, and atmospheric processes that are responsible for airborne emissions of particulate matter (PM, or dust) from open-lot livestock production, especially dairies and cattle feedyards.  Recent studies in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, California, and Australia have expanded the available data on both emission rates and abatement measures. Although the uncertainties associated with our estimates of fugitive emissions are still unacceptably high, we have learned from our recent experience with ammonia that using a wide variety of credible measurement techniques, rather than focusing on one so-called “standard” technique, may be the better way to improve confidence in our estimates.  Whereas the most promising control measures for gaseous emissions continue to be dietary strategies  with management of corral-surface moisture a close second for particulate matter, corral-surface management and moisture management play comparable roles, depending on the mechanical strength of soils and the availability of water, respectively.  The cost per unit reduction of emitted mass attributable to these abatement measures varies as widely as the emissions estimates themselves, so we need to intensify our emphasis on process-based emissions research to (a) reduce the variances in our emissions estimates and (b) mitigate the contingency of prior, empirically based estimates.  As a general rule, although cattle feedyard emission factors may be thought a reasonable starting point for estimating emissions from open-lot dairies, such estimates should be viewed with suspicion.

Purpose          

Document the state of the art of particulate-matter (PM) emissions from open-lot livestock facilities, including emission fluxes and abatement measures.

What did we do?

We conducted (a) field research at commercial, open-lot livestock facilities in the southern High Plains and (b) an up-to-date review of the latest literature concerning primary particulate matter emission fluxes and the abatement measures appropriate to the source type. Field research included time-resolved concentration measurements upwind and downwind of the livestock facilities during the hottest, driest times of the year (in the case of dairy emissions) and throughout the year (in the case of beef feedyards); and a 5-month evaluation of stocking density manipulation using electric cross-fences that preserve optimum bunk space for beef cattle on feed. The literature review surveyed research findings from anywhere in the world that were published in refereed journals as recently as March 2015 concerning the same topics.

What have we learned?

Increasing the stocking density of fed beef cattle as compared to the industry-wide average during hot, dry weather suppresses dust emissions to a measurable and reasonably consistent degree. Concentrations of PM measured downwind of open-lot dairies vary throughout the day, though to a lesser degree and at lower overall concentrations than those measured downwind of nearby beef cattle feedyards, likely reflecting (a) the comparatively lower intensity of the dairy animal’s physical activity and (b) the greater diurnal uniformity of animal-activity patterns in dairies as compared to those in cattle feedyards. Stocking density manipulation does not appear likely to influence dairy dust emissions to the same degree as it influences feedyard dust emissions. Our confidence in emission-flux estimates from these open-lot systems suffers from a lack of methodological diversity; that confidence would be greatly bolstered by the deployment of measurement techniques that differ from the standard inverse-dispersion-modeling paradigm. The integrated horizontal flux (IHF) approach to emissions estimation, which we are now testing at a cattle feedyard in the Texas Panhandle, will provide some corroborating evidence that will allow us to narrow the range of PM flux estimates in the research literature, a range that now spans more than an order of magnitude when expressed on a per-animal-unit basis.

Future Plans

We will continue long-term, ground-level monitoring of time-resolved PM concentrations at a commercial cattle feedyard in the Texas Panhandle; continue our ongoing tests of the IHF flux-estimation technique; and evaluate eye-safe lidar as a path-averaging monitoring technology for the intermediate path lengths (50-300m) that will permit experimental discrimination of concentration data downwind of adjacent pen areas featuring different dust-abatement measures.

Authors    

Brent Auvermann, Professor, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service b-auvermann@tamu.edu

K. Jack Bush and Kevin R. Heflin, Research Associates, Texas A&M AgriLife Research

Additional information              

6500 Amarillo Blvd. West, Amarillo, TX 79106-1796, (806)670-8081 (cell)

Acknowledgements      

USDA-NIFA Contract Nos. 2010-34466-20739 and 2009-55112-05235; Texas A&M AgriLife Research; JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding; Texas Air Research Center; Texas Cattle Feeders Association

The authors are solely responsible for the content of these proceedings. The technical information does not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring agencies or institutions represented by planning committee members, and inclusion and distribution herein does not constitute an endorsement of views expressed by the same. Printed materials included herein are not refereed publications. Citations should appear as follows. EXAMPLE: Authors. 2015. Title of presentation. Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. Seattle, WA. March 31-April 3, 2015. URL of this page. Accessed on: today’s date.

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