No magic potion to cut nuisance pig farm odours
Their recommendations were:
* Stay on good terms with neighbours, be receptive to their concerns, and select piggery sites carefully (distance from neighbours is important).
* Screen pig units with trees or shelterbelts to avoid air mixing, improve appearance and prevent visual prompting of the presence of odour-causing activities (“out of sight is out of mind”).
“The visual impact of a site is the starting point of community relations”, said researchers in their report.
* Use appropriate spreading equipment to minimise odour, stay away from residences and choose timing carefully (with regard to weather, wind direction, day of the week).
Soil injection, trailing shoes and band-spreading reduce ammonia emissions by 85%, 75% and 39% respectively, compared to splash plate spreading.
* Use low protein diets and improve the efficiency of feed utilisation, to reduce the nutrient load in manure. A 2% reduction in diet crude protein content reduces nitrogen excretion by 20%, without compromising pig performance. In a UCD trial, reductions of 30% in odour and 60% in ammonia were measured, when dietary crude protein for finishing pigs was reduced from 19 or 22% of the diet to 13%. The benefits of feed additives to reduce odours are small and probably uneconomical, said the Teagasc researchers.
* Control water use, to minimise manure volumes. Covers over manure stores also reduce emissions.
Odours from pig units and manure spreading are a growing problem, as more non-farmers come to live in rural Ireland, and pig units get bigger. Residents are less tolerant if the pig farmer is not known to neighbours, does not live nearby, and is considered insensitive to their concerns.
Measurement of odours and setting thresholds has proven very difficult for regulators such as the EPA.
