Environmental Impacts Flashcards
environmental concerns of intensive beef production
GHG emissions
air quality
soil and water quality
human health
GHG emissions of concern
methane CH4
nitrous oxide N2O
other air pollutants of concern
ammonia
particulate matter
volatile organic compounds
CH4
enteric fermentation
anaerobically stored manure
N2O
associated with emission from soil that has been fertilized with manure or solid manure storage systems
GWP 100 vs GWP *
GWP 100 assumes all breakdown at same rate and over peanilizes CH4 industries as it breaks down faster than CO2
GWP * accounts for lifespan of each gas type
issue with fiber diets
fiber diet types favour acetate production resulting in more methane produced rather than when an animal is fed concentrates
production system split of emissions in CO2 equivalents
feedlot is 20%
cow calf is 80%
agriculture and beef cattle contribute what % to canada GHG emissions
2.4%
what to consider when looking at GHG data
are numbers being expressed as CH4 or CO2eq
want CO2eq when comparing to other industries
aims when considering emissions reduction
reduce both total emissions and /kg meat emissions
issue when comparing species in feed efficiency
beef is must higher than poultry and swine as beef is much larger and required more inputs in every aspect
grain use between species
way lower in beef
ability to produce without high quality land or fertilizer inputs
grass fed and environmental sustainability
less environmentally sustainable when considering efficiency of producing the same amount of beef
what would happen if animal production would be eliminated
would only result in 2.6% reduction in total US GHG when replaced with cropping, would have less essential nutrients such as Ca, EFA, Vit A B12
mitigating GHG
most effective is to increase production efficiency
reduce emissions/kg beef produced by increasing gain w/o increasing emissions
mitigation methods issue in grazing
often only work for feedlot and not grazing
what is different between carbon in fossil fuels and carbon in cattle
carbon is fossil fuels cannot be recycled within the environment
air quality topics (3)
NH3
Particulate matter
volatile organic compounds
NH3 in air quality
primary pollutant from manure
can react to form NH4+ which has a much larger travelling distance
particulate matter in air quality
impacts visibility and human health
VOC in air quality
result from fermented feeds fed to livestock
soil and water quality issues
generally related to manure and runoff
gaseous NH3 can also impact water quality
water quality concerns
nitrated and phosphorus
toxin and pathogen contaminates
sk definition of intensive livestock operations
if liquid waste is stored as earthen manure
if > 300 animal units
if 20-300 animal units but within 300m of a watercourse of 30m of a well that is not your own
what is required to start a ILO
environmental assessment of risk contamination including draining patterns, bore hole drilling for aquifer locations, soil sampling, vertical and horizontal hydraulic gradients
methods of surface water protection
well drained pens
methods of containing surface runoff in the event of above normal rainfall
designed holding pongs
nutrient management plan
ensure sufficient land area to receive manure produced.
in sk is based on crop nitrogen requirements
affects how much manure you can apply
approval process of starting an ILO
public process
site characterization
application
review and decision
audit
minimum distance separation standard
300-800 m from neighboring residences (the house not the property line)
manure application distance from a well
30m
manure application from a water body
10m for subsurface injection and 30 m for incorperation
catch basins must be able to hold __ months of manure runoff
9
catch basins setback from spring/well
setback from water body
100m from well
30m from body
how long can short term manure be stored
not more than 6 months
ideal moisture for composting
40-60%
finished volume of composted manure
50-70% of raw volume
steps required for land application of manure
manure analysis
soil analysis
crop nutrient requirement
practices to reduce dust and odor
feed balanced diets that do not exceed protein requirement
good drainage
planting shelter belts and constructing wind breaks
keep feedlor surface moisture 25-40%
scrape surface every 3-4 months (<2” of manure)
use sprinklers when extra dry
air quality standard for indoor feedlots
<25ppm ammonia
