Strategies to Reduce Odour Emissions from Meat Chicken Farms

The recent growth in the Australian meat chicken industry has coincided with rising community interest in environmental issues. To ensure the environmental sustainability of the industry and of individual farms, it is important to carefully manage environmental concerns. Meat chicken processing plants have traditionally been located in large cities for economic reasons. The meat chicken farms that supply these plants have thus been located in rural residential areas on the outskirts of these cities for economic reasons related to transport costs. Farms in many of these areas have suffered from urban encroachment by people looking for cheaper land and a rural lifestyle. Consequently, interference to community amenity (particularly through odour) is an important issue. Even with very well managed farms, odour will still be generated and may be detected off-site. This off-site impact however, can be minimised with appropriate planning and management.

Citation: McGahan, E.J., Kolominskas, C., Bawden, K. and Ormerod, R. 2002. “Strategies to Reduce Odour Emissions from Meat Chicken Farms” In Proceedings of 2002 Poultry Information Exchange – Thinking in a Sustainable World, 14-16 April 2002, Gold Coast, Australia.

PDF: PIX_Odour-2002.PDF

Investigation of Soil Nutrient Distribution on Egg Farms using EM Technology

Sustainable nutrient management in the egg industry has been recognised as an area of priority for improving environmental performance, particularly for free range farms. Hens excrete a large proportion of the nutrients that they ingest in manure, which requires careful management to ensure nutrients are not lost to the environment. One issue with managing manure nutrients is the variability in nutrient levels within the free-range area. Improving the understanding of this variability would help farmers devise new nutrient management strategies that reduce the risk of nutrient losses. This project utilised a readily available technology (electro-magnetic induction, or EM) for the purpose of mapping manure nutrient distribution in soils within the free-range area. Surveys were carried across 14 free range sites and a number of manure application areas. Additionally, surveys were conducted around two older style caged sheds to investigate the risk of nutrient loss. Soil results from across the free range farms showed that in general, nutrient levels were high for nitrate (measured as nitrate-N) and phosphorus (measured as Colwell P) and levels tended to be higher than those recommended for manure reuse areas in other industries, such as beef feedlots (Skerman 2000). The nutrient distribution maps of the free range areas showed a fairly consistent pattern of elevated nitrate and phosphorus close to the sheds (within approx. 20m). Some older farms had very high nutrient levels, even at some distance from the sheds (up to 50m). The results show that free range egg farming can lead to very high soil nutrient levels close to the sheds, which emphasises the need for improved environmental management to ensure free range egg production is sustainable. Prospective management options that were identified to reduce the risk of offsite nutrient loss from free-range farms included: i) construction of runoff diversion banks around free range areas to prevent clean runoff crossing the site, ii) construction of compacted pads around free range sheds (out to approx. 20m) and iii) construction of designated manure storage areas with compacted pads and runoff control.

Citation: Wiedemann, SG and Zadow, EN. (2010) "Investigation of Soil Nutrient Distribution on Egg Farms using EM Technology", Proceedings 2010 Poultry Information Exchange, Gold Coast Australia, pp 54-65.

PDF: Free-range_Egg_EM.pdf