Environmental Impacts

Question 1

environmental concerns of intensive beef production

Answer 1

GHG emissions
air quality
soil and water quality
human health

Question 2

GHG emissions of concern

Answer 2

methane CH4
nitrous oxide N2O

Question 3

other air pollutants of concern

Answer 3

ammonia
particulate matter
volatile organic compounds

Question 4

CH4

Answer 4

enteric fermentation
anaerobically stored manure

Question 5

N2O

Answer 5

associated with emission from soil that has been fertilized with manure or solid manure storage systems

Question 6

GWP 100 vs GWP *

Answer 6

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

Question 7

issue with fiber diets

Answer 7

fiber diet types favour acetate production resulting in more methane produced rather than when an animal is fed concentrates

Question 8

production system split of emissions in CO2 equivalents

Answer 8

feedlot is 20%
cow calf is 80%

Question 9

agriculture and beef cattle contribute what % to canada GHG emissions

Answer 9

2.4%

Question 10

what to consider when looking at GHG data

Answer 10

are numbers being expressed as CH4 or CO2eq
want CO2eq when comparing to other industries

Question 11

aims when considering emissions reduction

Answer 11

reduce both total emissions and /kg meat emissions

Question 12

issue when comparing species in feed efficiency

Answer 12

beef is must higher than poultry and swine as beef is much larger and required more inputs in every aspect

Question 13

grain use between species

Answer 13

way lower in beef
ability to produce without high quality land or fertilizer inputs

Question 14

grass fed and environmental sustainability

Answer 14

less environmentally sustainable when considering efficiency of producing the same amount of beef

Question 15

what would happen if animal production would be eliminated

Answer 15

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

Question 16

mitigating GHG

Answer 16

most effective is to increase production efficiency
reduce emissions/kg beef produced by increasing gain w/o increasing emissions

Question 17

mitigation methods issue in grazing

Answer 17

often only work for feedlot and not grazing

Question 18

what is different between carbon in fossil fuels and carbon in cattle

Answer 18

carbon is fossil fuels cannot be recycled within the environment

Question 19

air quality topics (3)

Answer 19

NH3
Particulate matter
volatile organic compounds

Question 20

NH3 in air quality

Answer 20

primary pollutant from manure
can react to form NH4+ which has a much larger travelling distance

Question 21

particulate matter in air quality

Answer 21

impacts visibility and human health

Question 22

VOC in air quality

Answer 22

result from fermented feeds fed to livestock

Question 23

soil and water quality issues

Answer 23

generally related to manure and runoff
gaseous NH3 can also impact water quality

Question 24

water quality concerns

Answer 24

nitrated and phosphorus
toxin and pathogen contaminates

Question 25

sk definition of intensive livestock operations

Answer 25

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

Question 26

what is required to start a ILO

Answer 26

environmental assessment of risk contamination including draining patterns, bore hole drilling for aquifer locations, soil sampling, vertical and horizontal hydraulic gradients

Question 27

methods of surface water protection

Answer 27

well drained pens methods of containing surface runoff in the event of above normal rainfall designed holding pongs

Question 28

nutrient management plan

Answer 28

ensure sufficient land area to receive manure produced. in sk is based on crop nitrogen requirements affects how much manure you can apply

Question 29

approval process of starting an ILO

Answer 29

public process site characterization application review and decision audit

Question 30

minimum distance separation standard

Answer 30

300-800 m from neighboring residences (the house not the property line)

Question 31

manure application distance from a well

Answer 31

30m

Question 32

manure application from a water body

Answer 32

10m for subsurface injection and 30 m for incorperation

Question 33

catch basins must be able to hold __ months of manure runoff

Answer 33

9

Question 34

catch basins setback from spring/well setback from water body

Answer 34

100m from well 30m from body

Question 35

how long can short term manure be stored

Answer 35

not more than 6 months

Question 36

ideal moisture for composting

Answer 36

40-60%

Question 37

finished volume of composted manure

Answer 37

50-70% of raw volume

Question 38

steps required for land application of manure

Answer 38

manure analysis soil analysis crop nutrient requirement

Question 39

practices to reduce dust and odor

Answer 39

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

Question 40

air quality standard for indoor feedlots

Answer 40

<25ppm ammonia