UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Although Gas And Particulate Emission Regulations For Animal Agriculture Are Only Now Being Enforced By The U.s. Environmental Protection Agency, Penn State's College Of Agricultural Sciences Has Been Studying Ways To Reduce And Measure Gas And Odor Emissions From Farms For Years.

Federal scrutiny of agricultural emissions results mainly from increasing neighbor complaints about odors, dust and gases coming from concentrated animal feeding operations. EPA action on farm emissions caught many in the agriculture community off guard, but not scientists at Penn State, according to Eileen Wheeler, associate professor of agricultural engineering, who has completed research on gas emissions.

"We have been studying how to detect, limit and control emission of gases, such as ammonia, for over three years," she says. "We are actually ahead of the game here at Penn State. People have been interested in farm odor, and we have completed several odor-reduction projects over the past decade, but we couldn't seem to get folks as interested in agricultural gas and particle emissions. Now that the EPA has stated intent to enforce regulations on farms, people are sitting up and taking notice."

Agricultural odors are a local problem, Wheeler explains, but gas emissions are a multi-state and global problem. "For example, it is estimated that the majority of the ammonia in the Earth's atmosphere comes from animal agriculture," she says. "There are two strategies to reduce agricultural gas emissions: reduce generation at the source and reduce the release from the farm site. Effective odor and gas emission-reduction on livestock facilities usually involves more than one practice, with nutritional nutrient management on the front end and manure emissions management on the back end."

Recently the college, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania departments of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, sponsored an agricultural summit titled "Nutrient Management: A Balancing Act," where Wheeler reviewed 16 agricultural emissions-related research projects either now under way or just concluded at Penn State, largely funded by approximately $3 million in grants from the U.S. and Pennsylvania departments of Agriculture.

The conference, which covered a wide range of Penn State nutrient management research, was attended by Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; Dennis Wolff, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture; Robert Steele, dean of the college of Agricultural Sciences; agricultural producers, consultants, regulators and researchers; public officials; representatives of support industries and environmental groups; fertilizer dealers; and educators. Among the research projects highlighted (with funding agency and amounts):

--"Reducing Ammonia Emissions from Dairy Farms: Evaluating Whole Farm Strategies," a study taking place in Penn State's Dairy Research Center that is manipulating cows' diets to limit ammonia excreted in manure. (USDA $332,000);

--"Odor-Reduction Wetland Performance," studying the long-term performance attributes of an indoor wetland system using gravel containing microbes and bulrush plants, treating dilute swine wastewater in an on-farm application. (PDA $52,000);

--"Enzymatic Deodorization of Swine Manure," studying the oxidation of odorants by adding horseradish peroxidase (present in plant tissue) and peroxide. (PDA $119,000);

--"Deodorization of Livestock and Poultry Manure by Microorganisms," experimenting with aeration to allow microbial deodorizers to better break down organic material in manure. (PDA $60,000);

--"Ferric Iron Treatment to Reduce Manure Odors," studying the effect of adding ferric chloride to stimulate the respiration of bacteria to reduce manure odor. (PDA $120,000);

--"Reducing Ammonia Emissions From Poultry Houses By Enhanced Manure and Diet Management," monitoring 22 poultry houses over a one-year period for seasonal and geographical ammonia emission variation. (USDA $870,000);

--"Field Olfactometry for Quantifying and Targeting Agriculture Odor Control," assembling and training a human panel for on-farm odor assessments, and evaluating a device called a "Nasal Ranger" to take field odor measurements. (PDA $70,000);

--"Optimizing Management and Characterizing Odors Produced With Phase 1 Composting," continuously monitoring odor emissions from composted manure, measuring the release of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. (mushroom industry $67,000);

--"Monitoring the On-site Production of Odor Emissions During Mushroom Substrate Preparation," continuously monitoring gas and odor emissions from commercial mushroom production facilities using different substrate preparations. (PDA $111,000); --"Sensory and Analytical Measures of Odors Associated With Agriculture," providing research perspective via a relative measure of odor character and intensity across different agricultural activities. (PDA $45,000);

--"Development of a Practical Anaerobic Digester System for Swine Grower Finisher Facilities," monitoring digester efficiency, nutrient flow and indoor air quality at a commercial Pennsylvania swine facility. (PDA, DEP, Pennsylvania Pork Producers and the Seiple Foundation $275,000);

--"Confined Space Manure Storage Ventilation," attempting to limit on-farm fatalities by developing standards for ventilation of manure storage facilities. (Northeast Center for Agriculture Safety and Agricultural and Occupational Health $466,000);

--Vegetative Shelter Belts to Mitigate Odor and Aerosol Pollutants Emitted From Poultry Production Sites," quantifying the efficacy of shelterbelts of vegetation to mitigate odor, particulates and ammonia from poultry facilities. (USDA $440,000);

--"Poultry Integrated Pest Management To Control House Flies," investigating manure storage additives and composting to reduce ammonia emissions and control fly larvae, pupae and adults. (PDA $22,000);

--"Swine Farm Neighbors Evaluation of Three Odor Reduction Strategies," involving 203 neighbors of eight Pennsylvania hog farms in evaluating the effectiveness of three odor-reduction technologies. (PDA $125,000);

"Minimizing Nitrogen Excretion and Ammonia Volatilization in Poultry Manure," studying the addition of zinc sulfate and magnesium sulfate to hen and broiler litter to limit excretion of fecal ammonia and nitrogen. (Purina Fellowship $30,000).

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EDITORS: Contact Eileen Wheeler at 814-865-3552 or by e-mail at efw2@psu.edu.

Writer/Editor: Jeff Mulhollem Office 814-863-2719 FAX 814-863-9877