Hope for Hog Farmers

Various powders, fans, and filters have been proposed to help reduce odors from swine facilities, and some show promise in the field. Kephart, along with other scientists, extension agents, and farmers, implemented experimental technologies to reduce odors on eight hog farms around the state during summer 1999. Three technologies were tested: biofiltration of air from the animal facility, dust filtration of air from the facility, and floating biofilters for outside manure storage.

Biofiltration forces the air exhausted from the animal facility to pass through an 8-to-12-inch layer of compost and wood chips, decreasing odors emanating from the building. Dust filtration involves “windsocks” of plastic mesh placed over exhaust fans to help dust particles—which carry odors—settle quickly. Floating biofilters use an 8-inch layer of straw to filter the odors in a manure storage pit.

After the experimental technologies were in place, surveys were sent to neighbors. They were asked to monitor odor levels once a week for six weeks between 6:00 p.m. and midnight. They also were asked a series of questions about their health and attitudes toward farms in their communities. Of the three odor-reducing technologies, only the biofil-tration systems scored a significant decrease in odor levels for hog farms.

Jeff Frey’s farm in Lancaster County tested biofiltration. Shortly after Frey built a facility to house 2,000 head of swine, his neighbors began complaining. After contacting extension director Leon Ressler, eight biofilters were installed on the facility’s pit fans, which expel odors from the manure pit under the barn.

Frey says his neighbors noticed a significant decrease in odors. Because this technology is still experimental, lower-quality materials were used to save money. That biofilter will only last for a few years, but Frey said he plans to install a more permanent version in the future. “If Penn State had not installed this biofilter for experimental purposes, I probably would not have spent the money to install it,” Frey says. “We simply didn’t know how effective they would be. But we learned that the technology is worth the expense.”

Farms can also be evaluated in terms of their cleanliness, manure storage facilities, nutrient management plans, and mortality disposal. All these things lead to certain perceptions of the farm, and farmers can take steps to improve these aspects to keep their neighbors happy. “In general, good management techniques may help to reduce odor emissions from farm facilities,” Kephart says. “It is important to keep the inside of the facility and the animals clean and dry, and to minimize the dust in the building.”

Kephart says the overall results of his study were a bit surprising: the neighbors’ odor scores were statistically related to the neighbor’s distance to the hog facility, but they were also related to personal factors. For example, if the neighbor knew the farmer, or if the farm was perceived as being clean and well-kept, most neighbors gave the farm a lower odor score. “These relationships between odor and personal factors don’t discount what the neighbors are smelling,” Kephart says. “It just underscores the need for farmers to be sensitive to others’ feelings about their facility and to keep good community relations.”

The Key to Good Relations
Agricultural economist Tim Kelsey, who has surveyed many Pennsylvania residents about their attitudes towards farms, says communication is the key to good relations between farmers and their neighbors. If farmers and residents do not know each other, it may be easier to complain about the odor problems instead of working to resolve them. “Neighbors who voiced concerns to farmers were more likely than other residents to feel like steps were being taken to solve the odor problem,” Kelsey says. “Communication makes it easier for people to feel that there will be some resolution to the issue.”

Based on this research, Kelsey and colleague Charles Abdalla developed a publication for producers called Finding the Common Ground: Good Neighbor Relations. It compiles farmers’ advice on how to establish and maintain better community relations, and covers steps that can help resolve odor issues.

“Farmers acknowledge the need to talk to their neighbors,” Kelsey says. “It may be as simple as the farmer finding out a neighbor’s plans for the weekend. If they are planning an outdoor wedding, the farmer knows not to spread manure on his fields that day. This is just a basic thing, but it really helps out with neighbor relations.”

Heinemann agrees that farmers and their neighbors must work together to solve these issues. Without cooperation, neither party will benefit. “The size of the ag odor problem in Pennsylvania depends on who you talk to,” Heinemann says. “The only thing we can be sure about is that concerns and complaints over ag odors will continue to rise if we don’t do something
about it.”

Faculty and staff referenced in this article are Robert Graves, professor of agricultural engineering; Paul Heinemann, professor of agricultural engineering; Tim Kelsey, associate professor of agricultural economics; Ken Kephart, professor of animal science; and Leon Ressler, county extension director in Lancaster County.