Tag: umbiofilter

Posted on

Air Quality Resources for Policy Makers

Healthy communities include healthy businesses. A proposed new or expanded animal feeding operation can challenge the harmony of a local community. One commonly expressed concern regards the health impacts of the airborne emissions. Resources are available to help community members dealing with difficult decisions related to animal feeding operations. This 12 minute video explains some common air issues related to livestock and poultry production and science-based resources available to help policy makers and community members better understand odor, health and zoning issues as they develop policy.

Policy and Air Quality Resources

Setback estimation tools are available to help local policy makers and feeding operation owners assess the potential odor impact of a new or expanding operation on nearby neighbors and public areas. After odors, the most common livestock and poultry air emissions to receive scrutiny from regulators are ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Both of these gases are important in a piece of federal legislation known as the Environmental Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

Some of the management practices available to farmers mentioned in this video include:

More Videos in This Series

Additional educational materials are available at Air Quality in Animal Agriculture

Acknowledgements

For more information about this video or these resources, contact Dr. Kevin Janni, University of Minnesota kjanni@umn.edu

These materials were based upon work supported by the by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Agreement No. 2010-85112-20520.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Posted on

Feedlot Air Emissions Treatment Cost Calculator

logoThere are several techniques that animal feeding operation owners and managers can use to manage odors and gas emissions. Each technique has different costs and benefits. The Feedlot Air Emissions Treatment Cost Calculator is a tool that can be used to compare alternative technologies and designs with different costs and benefits. The calculator has information on biofilters, covers, scrubbers, manure belts, vegetative buffer and anaerobic digesters.

This spreadsheet tool is intended to assist the operator of a livestock or poultry operation to calculate the costs and benefits of installing technologies to treat odors and gases that could be emitted from the facility.

Download the Air Emissions Treatment Cost Calculator

The tool requires Excel 2007 or later versions. Download the spreadsheet. Note: This is a spreadsheet with active macros. Depending on your security settings, you may have to tell your spreadsheet program that it is OK to open it. The four videos below provide instructions on how to use the decision tool.

Instructional Videos for the Air Emissions Treatment Cost Calculator

Four videos below describe the cost calculator and how to use it.

Introduction

Biofilters and Covers

Scrubbers, Manure Belts, Buffers, Digesters

Benefits and Summary

Acknowledgements

Additional materials in this series (videos):

The Feedlot Air Emissions Treatment Cost Calculator was developed by Dr. Bill Lazarus (wlazraus@umn.edu) in the Applied Economics Department at the University of Minnesota for a multistate USDA funded research and Extension project. The calculator was suggested by stakeholders that included producers and managers of swine, poultry and dairy producing operations, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, human medicine, veterinary medicine, local and state regulators, local and county elected officials, Extension and NRCS.

Supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2010-85112-20520. If you have any questions about the project, contact Dr. Kevin Janni, University of Minnesota, kjanni@umn.edu

Posted on

Managing Odors, Neighbor Relations, and Estimating Setbacks for Animal Feeding Operations

When a new or expanded animal feeding operation is proposed, air quality and odors are often identified as a concern by community members. Available science-based resources will help you better understand odor, health and zoning issues. Understanding these issues can help community members with diverse interests and perspectives engage in informed conversations as they deal with community decisions regarding zoning and land use related to large animal feeding operations.

Neighbor Relations and Odor Management

Odor is a surprisingly complex issue that can impact neighbors and others. Farmers care about their impact on neighbors and look for effective methods to reduce odors. The goal is to keep odors at non-detectable or non-offensive levels. This 9 minute video will introduce some odor management issues and options available to reduce odors. Odor mitigation includes careful site planning and, as needed, the use of natural (windbreaks and setbacks), technological and management practices. The costs of different odor reduction practices vary and should be carefully considered to determine if they are a good fit for each individual operation. Visit the Feedlot Air Emissions Treatment Cost Calculator to download a spreadsheet to help calculate costs and benefits of installing technologies to treat odors and gas emissions from animal feeding operations.

Setback Tools

This nine minute video describes three setback estimation tools developed and used in Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa as the result of extensive research. These tools determine appropriate setback distances to manage odors when building new or expanding existing livestock or poultry facilities.

The siting of a livestock or poultry production facility is the first step in odor control to minimize impacts on nearby neighbors and public areas. Each facility needs a site-specific plan as there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation. Topography, local weather, presence of other odor sources in the area, sensitivity of the neighbors, and the characteristics of the animal facility all play a role in determining setbacks. Fortunately there are science-based tools available to assist producers, concerned citizens, and policy makers in making sound decisions.

Some of the ways farmers can manage odors include:

Also see the excellent video on “Odors on Livestock Farms: A Case Study From Nebraska” and visit the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center air quality page for more resources on managing air emissions.

More Videos in This Series

Additional educational materials are available at Air Quality in Animal Agriculture

Acknowledgements

For more information about this video or these resources, contact Dr. Kevin Janni, University of Minnesota kjanni@umn.edu

These materials were based upon work supported by the by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Agreement No. 2010-85112-20520.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Posted on

Manure Covers and Biofilters for Managing Odor and Air Emissions

Covers and biofilters are two techniques that can be used to help manage odors and other airborne emissions from animal feeding operations and manure storage units. Watch these two videos to learn about covers and biofilters, how they work, and related costs and benefits of different methods to reduce airborne emissions. Links to additional techniques and information are given below.

Manure Storage Covers for Reducing Odor Emissions

Visit the Feedlot Air Emissions Treatment Cost Calculator website to download a spreadsheet to help calculate costs and benefits of installing technologies to treat odors and gas emissions from animal feeding operations. A good tool to assess current management practices and their impact on air emissions, including odor, is to use the National Air Quality Site Assessment Tool (NAQSAT). Manure Storage Covers includes many more resources on this topic.

Biofilters for Reducing Odors and Gas Emissions

More is available on Biofilters. There are several methods that can be used to manage odor and other airborne emissions from animal feeding operations. Additional techniques and management information include:

More Videos in This Series

Additional educational materials are available at Air Quality in Animal Agriculture including an archived webinar on “Clearing the Air on Biofilters“

Acknowledgements

For more information about this video or these resources, contact Dr. Kevin Janni, University of Minnesota kjanni@umn.edu

These materials were based upon work supported by the by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Agreement No. 2010-85112-20520.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Posted on

Health Impacts of Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations

logoLocal communities are increasingly interested in being “healthy communities” and using community design to improve health. Understanding how animal feeding operations fit into healthy communities is important to the social, physical and economic health of many communities. Interviews with Dr. Steven Kirkhorn and Dr. Susanna Von Essen provide a summary about air emissions and their impacts on workers and public health.

More Videos in This Series

Additional educational materials are available at Air Quality in Animal Agriculture

Acknowledgements

For more information about this video or these resources, contact Dr. Kevin Janni, University of Minnesota kjanni@umn.edu

These materials were based upon work supported by the by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Agreement No. 2010-85112-20520.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this video are those of the speaker and do not reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Proudly powered by WordPress