Quiz Two Study Guide

Question 1

Describe how the economies of scale are important in influencing animal agriculture practices

Answer 1

per unit cost goes down as size of production goes up, so the larger the operation, the lower the costs

Question 2

Describe a trend in prices that pressured changes in the size of livestock operations.

Answer 2

livestock and poultry prices have failed to keep up with inflation so producers have had to raise more animals (or live on less money)

Question 3

Describe benefits that larger and specialized farms provide livestock producers.

Answer 3

Fewer, more specialized farms, have lower production costs, so they will produce more profit. The people on these farms have more of an expertise.

• buy lower, sell higher, more efficiency, experts

Question 4

What ate the benefits and disadvantages of contract rearing livestock systems?

Answer 4

• Benefits to contractors: reduces capital requirements, shares production risk, shifts site risk to grower
• Benefits to growers: reduces capital requirements, shares production risk, shifts market risk to contractor

Question 5

Describe the main differences between an animal waste management system and municipal waste management system.

Answer 5

animal waste - it is illegal to discharge into water, the goal is to maximize the nutrient concentration
municipal waste - treated and discharged into a stream in order to minimize nutrients

Question 6

What are the main objectives of the animal waste management system?

Answer 6

the objective is to maintain the nutrients within the manure so that you may use if for financial outset for fertilizing the fields

Question 7

What are the main components of an animal waste management system?

Answer 7

6 major items:
- Manure
- Collection… tractors, slatted floors, flush
- Storage… piles, basins, tanks, pits, lagoon, ponds
- Treatment… lagoon bacteria, solid separation, anaerobic digesters, settling basins, stationary screens
- Transfer - get from barn to storage, storage to field
- Utilization… spread or inject

Question 8

What are the two major emissions lost from the animal waste management system that are associated with a negative impact on the environment?

Answer 8

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CO2, methane and nitrous oxide (greenhouse gases)

Question 9

Describe factors that affect the degree of odors emitted from a livestock operation.

Answer 9

• Release: wind speed (faster the wind, greater the dilution), area, and source concentration
• Dispersion: wind speed, temperature, topography (odor follows water, trees provide a buffer)

Question 10

Describe the factors that impact the “offensiveness” of livestock operations.

Answer 10

Offensiveness = how bad is the odor?
- ?????????????????????????

Question 11

Define a nutrient management plan.

Answer 11

nutrient applied = nutrient utilized
– the ability to profitably manage manure nutrients as a fertilizer for crops while protecting water quality

Question 12

What are important components of a nutrient management plan?

Answer 12

• nutrient balance concept. understanding what we are putting into the diet of the animal, what is being retained in their bodies, then what the output of nutrients it.
• understanding that the nutrients going into the animal will affect what will be used for the soil (soil and animal scientists have to work together)

Question 13

What nutrients are being regulated/managed?

Answer 13

Nitrogen (used for grass), Phosphate (decreases water quality)

Question 14

Define climate. Define climate change.

Answer 14

Climate is the statistical aggregate of weather, the average conditions and the background system that we live in
–> climate change is the change in these average conditions

Question 15

What is meant by the statement that climate change is an energy balance problem?

Answer 15

• input=energy from the sun, cannot be changed
• output=energy from us, what we control (less energy is able to leave the earth due to the blankets created by greenhouse gasses)

Question 16

Describe how concentrations of atmospheric gases impact climate.

Answer 16

Less energy is able to leave earth because the greenhouse gasses blanket in the outputs, keeping them in, less energy is able to leave, warming us up, affecting our climate

Question 17

What gas emission associated with livestock are important in discussions regarding climate change? Why is this emission considered important?

Answer 17

Carbon dioxide, it goes into the places where water vapor doesn’t, so it will take up that and create a “blanket”