Livestock excrement a renewable resource, group says

The Network on Recycling of Agricultural, Municipal and Industrial Residues in Agriculture organized its 15th International Conference in Versailles, France in June. More than 250 attendees, researchers and stakeholders gathered to learn and debate the most recent advances in organic residues management and recycling in agriculture.
The conference reviewed research on ecosystem services related to organic residue recycling in cultivated fields, the fate of organic pollutants in soil-water-plant-air systems, the integration of organic residues in cropping practices, manure management and treatments processes for agriculture and for energy production. The group concluded that animal excreta should be considered as renewable resources for the soil and for biogas production rather than as waste. This creates a more sustainable animal production system. Though heavy metals pose a risk of contamination, European regulation has almost eliminated the risk, according to the network.
Animine, a French-based mineral supplier, also presented siMMin, software developed with the support of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. The tool measures the effect of zinc in pig feeding programs, the total quantity of excreted zinc and on zinc concentration in pig manure. Pig producers and feed manufacturers can simulate any change in diet formulation on the environment and on the value of manure when utilized as fertilizer. siMMin is online since January 2013, and is free to all.

Clean technology company announces agreement with fertilizer supplier

BioNitrogen, a cleantech company that utilizes proprietary technology to build environmentally friendly plants that convert biomass into urea fertilizer, announced that it has signed a supply agreement with United Suppliers for the offtake of urea fertilizer for its planned plants in Pointe Coupee Parish, La.
United Suppliers is owned by 735 locally controlled agriculture retailers and provides crop nutrients such as urea fertilizer to its owners in 20 states from east of the Rockies to west of the Mississippi River plus three of the western provinces in Canada.
This will be the second supply agreement under the framework agreement announced with United Suppliers in August 2012. The supply agreement contract will provide United Suppliers with the plant production of approximately 124,200 short tons annually per plant for 25 years.
"The agreement for these plants provides a framework for building plants in a strategic area to provide green domestic urea to our nitrogen fertilizer customers based on BioNitrogen's sourcing of biomass raw material. It will enhance our ability to obtain US-manufactured fertilizer from BioNitrogen," said Matt Carstens, United Suppliers Vice President of Crop Nutrients.
Bryan Kornegay Jr., president and CFO of BioNitrogen, said, "We are pleased to further our relationship with United Suppliers. This supply agreement is another important step toward providing green domestic urea fertilizer made from U.S. biomass to North American farmers."

LED lighting for broilers gives energy savings, flock perfomance

Light-emitting diode bulbs provide energy savings and competitive broiler growout performance in research trials, says Dr. Susan Watkins, University of Arkansas. Watch the video here.

European animal feed supplier focuses on sustainable production

European animal feed industry supplier Animine says it is taking an active role to educate its customers about sustainable practices.
Part of its initiative involves printing company and product documentation on recycled, EcoLabel-certified paper. This can be identified by the European EcoLabel flower, which Animine says represents the low environmental impacts throughout a product's life cycle, from manufacturing to disposal. EcoLabel production initiatives include reduced air and greenhouse gas emissions, decreased water pollution, reduced energy consumption, reduced risks to human health and use of recycled fibers or virgin fibers from sustainably managed forests.
“We believe that our customers, in the western world and in emerging countries, will feel more and more responsible on the environmental consequences of their activities," the company said. “With paper documents or with many other examples, Animine will take the lead to show eco-friendly initiatives to the feed industry”.

US agricultural council studies pig, poultry air quality issues

A Council for Agricultural Science and Technology study on North American air quality has been released, focusing on the topic as it relates to the areas of swine, poultry, dairy and beef farming.
The goal of "Air Issues Associated with Animal Agriculture: A North American Perspective," according to researchers, is to use science-based information to help all stakeholders involved in animal production protect the environment and public health in a proactive manner and avoid costly litigation to solve nuisance suits or enforce regulations. Historically, environmental concerns and regulations of animal agriculture focused on water quality. In the past 15 to 20 years, however, air quality issues associated with the livestock and poultry industries have become a growing concern for the public, leading to increased attention on enforcing air quality regulations for animal agriculture and new multimedia regulatory efforts.
A few of the study's specific findings, composed from data for odor, hazardous gases, greenhouse gases and pollutant concentrations in animal buildings, include:

• Diet composition has a significant impact on emissions.
• Mitigation methods, such as covering the manure storage surface, can greatly decrease odor emissions.
• Aeration of the storage basin or employing anaerobic digestion of the manure will also reduce the odor, but with higher costs.

Swine production systems generate a large variety of significant air emissions, according to the report. Ammonia, H₂S, odor, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, bioaerosols and greenhouse gases are all emitted in quantities of concern from pork production systems. This has created challenges for pork producers, because a more comprehensive approach (versus targeting one or two contaminants) is necessary to control or manage several of these air emission parameters simultaneously. But the pork industry has been quite progressive in dealing with air quality problems, funding emissions research projects and promoting practices and technologies that manage and mitigate air emissions from their production systems.
Poultry producers, on the other hand, have been concerned primarily with one airborne contaminant — ammonia — secondarily, with particulate matter and, potentially, bioaerosols. This is especially the case for layer operations, according to the report. Meat bird (broiler and turkey) producers have some concern with particulate matter levels in barns and particulate matter emissions because of the litter pack manure-handling systems. Ammonia emissions have been determined for the major housing systems used in the poultry industry, with some housing systems and/or management practices producing substantial NH₃ emission decrease.

Cargill focuses on environment with energy, greenhouse gas, freshwater initiatives

On the heels of Earth Day, Cargill has renewed its commitment to conserve resources in four goal areas — energy efficiency, greenhouse gas intensity, renewable energy and freshwater efficiency.
Among other things, the company has built itself around the following ideas:

• Alternative energy resources: More than 80 Cargill facilities generate power from more than 10 renewable resources such as sawdust, hulls from sunflower seeds and cocoa beans and sugar cane bagasse. These systems help limit the use of fossil fuels and reduce associated GHG emissions. At its beef and pork plants, for example, Cargill reclaims methane from its waste water lagoons and turns it into biogas to fuel its plant boilers. Biogas now displaces up to 30% of natural gas demand at 11 of Cargill's North American meat processing plants. This renewable energy represents almost 20% of these facilities' total energy consumption.
• Behavior-based energy management: Cargill is implementing behavior-based energy savings programs, a system which engages employees in recognizing and eliminating energy inefficiencies. A Cargill corn processing plant in Turkey was recognized by the Turkish government for its energy management program that includes web-based management of power consumption.
• Freshwater efficiency: Cargill is working to reduce freshwater consumption through behavioral, procedural and technical changes at its facilities. Cargill's malt plant in Spiritwood, N.D., is saving 264 million gallons of water a year through behavioral, procedural and technical changes to prevent overflows and improve awareness and education. In addition, over 24 months, Cargill's poultry facility in London, Ontario, Canada, reduced freshwater consumption by 28% by recycling the water used for cooling and rinsing. 

Cargill's environmental efforts also include supporting carbon trading markets, working in partnership with global NGOs and investing in alternative energy initiatives.