animal and poultry
waste management research:
a progress report

Alternative Animal Waste-Management Technologies
A Special Appropriation

Funding: $500,000

This project is designed to develop alternatives to the lagoon system now used to manage the wastes produced by hogs. In some cases, existing technology that is commercially available but not widely used to treat hog waste will be evaluated. Efforts will also be made to develop new methods of treating wastes. In either case, technology will be evaluated both for its effectiveness in treating waste produced by hogs and for its economic feasibility.

Also proposed as part of this project is the construction of a Swine Waste-Management Research and Demonstration Facility at N.C. State's Butner Beef Cattle Field Laboratory. This facility is to be designed with flexibility in mind so that scientists may easily study different waste-management strategies. Funding for the facility is contingent upon the university securing matching funding or in-kind contributions. The university is seeking matching contributions.

Commercially available systems designed to treat waste from hog farms are to be evaluated. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture has installed at its Cherry Farm near Goldsboro what amounts to a mini-municipal sewage treatment plant designed to treat swine waste. This system, designed by Animal Waste Abatement System Holding Co., LLC (also known as AWASH) employs a concrete aeration basin with clarifier and settling sections. The system uses blowers to aerate wastewater. Wastewater is recycled and used to empty swine buildings of waste, while excess water is diverted to a lagoon. The system is designed to reduce the amount of nitrogen in waste and may also reduce odor. It will be evaluated by Dr. Phillip W. Westerman, professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University.

Also being evaluated is covered lagoon technology developed by AgStar, an Environmental Protection Agency program. Lagoons are covered with plastic and methane gas produced during the decomposition of waste in the lagoon can then be collected and use to power a generator and provide electricity. This technology is in operation on the Barham Farm near Clayton. The technology is being evaluated for methane production as well as its effect on water quality and odor control. Dr. Jay Cheng, assistant professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, N.C. State, is evaluating the technology. Monitoring of the system is to begin in the fall of 1997.

All the elements of this project will be coordinated with activities of the Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center at North Carolina State University, which is already pursuing a range of animal waste-management research.