U of M study to focus on animal emissions
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an interview A first-ever, nationwide study to measure amounts of various airborne substances emitted from livestock facilities, including poultry, dairy and swine operations, is underway at a western Wisconsin dairy farm.
University of Minnesota professor Larry Jacobson, department of bioproducts and biosystems engineering, is coordinating the monitoring effort at the farm, which is one of 20 monitoring sites in nine states. The two-and-a-half year, $14.6 million study will continuously record levels of hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter, ammonia, nitrous oxide, volatile organic compounds and non-methane hydrocarbons released from livestock facilities. The U of M is receiving approximately $200,000 for its part in the study.
“The opportunity to study emissions from a dairy barn is especially intriguing, because we don’t have much air emissions data from these facilities.” The typical Midwest dairy barn is naturally ventilated, making it difficult to monitor air emissions.
“The barns involved in this study are mechanically ventilated, which greatly improves the accuracy of our sampling,” Jacobson said.
The National Air Emissions Monitoring Study, or NAEMS, is led by Purdue University and conducted under the advisement of the Environmental Protection Agency. The study is funded by the livestock industry, specifically through the Agricultural Air Research Council, a nonprofit organization that receives its funds from livestock industry groups.
The monitoring equipment at the research sites also may be used to test strategies for mitigating emissions. For example, researchers have found that when hogs are fed a certain diet, they emit significantly less ammonia.
The NAEMS project is one of three air emissions projects in which Jacobson is involved. The other projects are based on Minnesota turkey and swine farms. Other states involved in the study include California, New York, Iowa, North Carolina, Indiana, Texas and Washington.
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