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Lastupdatedon6/27/2012

Ag101
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Ag101

PorkProduction

CommonManureHandling

CommonManureHandlingSystems
Solid
LotRunoff
LiquidManure
Lagoons

SolidManure

Schematicofsolidmanuresystems
Source:PurdueUniversity

Surfaceapplicationofsolidmanure
Source:PurdueUniversity

Swinemanurewashistoricallyhandledasasolid,eitherdepositeddirectlybygrazinganimals,or
collectedinbeddingplacedonsolidshelterfloorstoabsorbtheurine.Pasturedanimalsspread
themanureoverthelandastheygrazed.Manuredepositedonsolidfloorsistypicallystored
whereitfalls,withmorebeddingaddedasneededtomaintainadryfloor.Liquiddrainsawayfrom
themanuredroppedonanoutsidelotandmustbecollectedinastorage,leavingthesolid
manurebehind.Themanurecompostsinplacesomewhatandisremovedeveryfewmonths.
Fertilizervalueisrecoveredbyspreadingoncroplandtocompletethenutrientcycle.Solid
manureisnormallysurfaceapplied,butinsomecasesmaybeincorporatedintothesoilwitha
farmtillageoperationshortlyafterspreading.Compostingisanotheroptionforsolidmanure
management.

LotRunoff

Optionsforhandlingmanurefromopenlot
Source:PurdueUniversity
Optionsforhandling
manurefromopenlot
holdingpondforrunoff
fromoutsidelot
Source:DavisPurdue
Farms

Manureistypicallyscrapedfromoutsidelotseveryweekortwoandstackeduntilitcanbe
hauledtocropland.Itisimportanttokeepanoutsidelotrelativelyfreeofmanuretocontrolodor
andsothatrainfallrunoffstaysmostlyfreeofmanure.Thisfacilitatesstorageofrelativelyclean
runoffforirrigationontocropland.Itisevenpossibletodivertrunofffromsmalloperations
directlytopastureortoavegetatedfilterstripwhereitcaninfiltrate.Itmustbepreventedfrom
enteringwaterways.Cleanupslopewaterandroofwatershouldbedivertedawayfromtheopen
lottominimizetheamountofwastewaterthatmustbehandledasamanure.

LiquidManure
Mostswinemanureishandledasaliquid.Manuretypically
fallsthroughaslottedfloor(withthesizeofslotdepending
onthesizeandageofanimal)intoeitheragutterora
concretestoragepit.Storagepitsprovidesfrom312
monthsstorageofthemanure.Thispitmayeitherbe
locateddirectlyundertheslottedfloorandmaybefrom4'
to10'deep.Insomeoperations,themanurefallsintoa
shallowpitorgutterwhichisperiodicallypumped,flushed
ordrainedtoalargeoutsidestorage.Theoutsidestorage
mayeitherbeconstructedintheearthoracommercial
Growfinishpigsonslottedfloor
steelorconcretestoragepurchasedanderectedonsite.
Source:PurdueUniversity
Storagesizeisdictatedbyregulatoryagenciesinmost
statesandareusuallysizedlargeenoughtoholdatleastsixmonthsaccumulationinMidwestern
states.Thisavoidstheneedtoapplymanureduringthecropgrowingseasonandwhenweather
conditionsareunsuitablesuchasonfrozengroundorwhenthesoiliswetenoughthatheavy
applicationvehiclescouldcompactanddamagethesoilforcropproduction.

Fabricatedsteelmanure
storage

Liquidmanurepitagitation
Source:PurdueUniversity

Surfaceappliedliquidmanure
Source:PurdueUniversity

Liquidmanurefromstorageisnormallyagitatedthoroughlytomakethemanurenutrientcontent
betweenloadsmoreuniformandhauledtothefieldforapplicationinlargetankerwagonsor
trucks.Liquidmanureiseitherappliedtothesoilsurfaceorisincorporatedduringorshortlyafter
applicationtocontrollossofvolatileammoniaandreleaseofodors.Incorporationisvery
effectiveatcontrollingrunoffofmanurenutrientsandreducingodorfromlandapplicationifdone
duringorwithinafewhoursafterapplication.Onemethodisasoilinjector,whereliquidmanure
isinjecteddirectlyintothesoiltoadepthof6to9asthetankerpassesoverthefield.This
immediatecontactbetweenthemanureandsoilishighlyeffectiveatcontrollingodor.
Inremoteareas,liquidmanuremaybepumpedtothe
landapplicationsiteandthenirrigatedonto
cropland.Sprayirrigatingliquidmanureisavery
efficientmethodoflandapplication,intermsofspeed
andlabor,butodoremissionscanbesignificant
therefore,itisnotfeasibletousethismethodin
populatedareas.

Injectingliquidmanure
Source:PurdueUniversity

Lagoons
Lagoonsaredifferentfromliquidmanurestoragebecause
theyareoperatedtoencourageanaerobicdigestionof
organicmaterialwhileitisbeingstored.Thisreducesodor
whenthetreatedmanureislandapplied.Aproperly
designedandoperatedtreatmentlagoonismuchlarger
andmoreexpensivethanaliquidmanurestoragewiththe
samestoragetime,andtheorganicsolidsaremuchless
concentratedintheliquid.
Twostagelagoonsystem
Source:PurdueUniversity

Gravitydrain,flatbottomgutter
Source:PurdueUniversity

Reversehairpin,flatbottomgutter
Source:PurdueUniversity

IntheMidwest,anequalpartofrelatively
cleandilutionwatermustbeaddedforeach
partmanure.Furthermore,manuremustbe
addedslowlyanduniformlytothelagoon,to
avoidanupset(andsubsequentreleaseof
odors)tothebiologicaltreatmentsystem.
Onecommonmethodofdoingthisisto
utilizeshallowpitsorguttersunderslotted
floorsanddrainorflushmanuretothe
lagoononafrequentbasis,usuallyevery
threedaystothreeweeks.Thisisdoneby
simplypullingapluginthebottomofthepit,
calledgravitydrain,useofascrapersystem Recirculatinglagoonwatertoflushmanurefroma
gutterunderaslottedfloor
runningintheunderfloorgutter,througha
Source:PurdueUniversity
processcalleda"hairpen"gutterorby
recirculatingavolumeofrelativelyclean
effluentfromthelagoontoflushmanureoutofthebuildingandintothelagoon.Recirculation
involveseitheraflushingactionthattakesplaceseveraltimesadayora"pitrecharge"system
thatworksbasicallylikeatoiletthatisflushedeveryfewdays.

Aportionofthelagooncontentsor"minimumdesignvolume"mustbeleftinthelagoonafterits
contentsarepumpedtothelandtoprovidealargenumberofmicrobialorganismstotreatthe
newmanureenteringthesystem.Inspiteofproperoperation,thereisanoverturningofthe
lagooncontentsthatoccursinthefalloftheyearforacoupleofweeks,asambienttemperature

Singlecellwastetreatmentlagoon
Source:PurdueUniversity

dropsandcoolsthetoplayerof
liquidinthelagoon.Asits
densityincreases,itoverturns
ordropstothebottomofthe
lagoon,forcingthebottom
layer,containingpartially
digestedmanuresolids,tothe
top.Thisphenomenonresultsin
higherodorlevelsforaweekor
twoaroundthelagoon.Multiple
Lagoonsinseriesnormallyemit

fewerodorsthansinglecelllagoons.

Lagooncontentsarenormallyappliedtocroplandbyspray
irrigationsystems.Ifthelagoonisproperlydesignedand
operated,sprayirrigationshouldnotreleasemuchodorbecause
mostoftheorganicsolidsshouldhavebeenbiologically
degraded.Inawelloperatedlagoon,typicaleffluentshouldhave
onlyabout20%asmuchnitrogen(N)andabout30%to40%as
muchphosphorous(P)andpotassium(K)astherawmanure,
becauseoftreatmentandsedimentationofsolidstothebottom
Irrigationoflagooneffluent
ontocropland
ofthelagoon.NotethatthePandK"lost"actuallyaccumulatein
Source:PurdueUniversity
thesludgeandmustbeutilizedproperlywhenremoved.These
solids,orsludge,mustberemovedeveryfewyearsandthe
operationshouldplantohandlethemasapartoftheirnutrientmanagementplan.Becausethis
materialismoreconcentrated,itmaybepracticaltohaulthesludgeoffsitetomoredistant
croplandthatcanbetterutilizethenutrientscontainedinthesludge.Becauseofthenuisance
potentialofthispartiallystabilizedmaterial,itshouldbeincorporatedasaliquidmanureif
possible.
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