Project Number: 6406-12630-004-02
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 25, 2007
End Date: Jul 14, 2009

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to foster a relationship between ARS and a commercial broiler farm to develop comprehensive farm management strategies for agricultural air quality, land application of litter/cake, and watershed protection, specifically to: (1) evaluate spatial and temporal variability of litter gas flux and nutrient concentrations within tunnel ventilated commercial broiler houses; (2) develop process based pollutant gas emission factors for site-specific broiler housing; (3) determine corresponding bioaerosol concentrations during flock growout; and (4) evaluate modern litter/broiler/house management practices effects on air quality within the house and subsequent environmental effects to air, water, and land.

Approach:
Work will be done in tunnel ventilated broiler houses on the cooperator farm. The houses chosen for installation of continuous emission monitoring instrumentation, the times for in-house, within flock measurements and the litter or cake sample collection are established at the farmer¿s discretion with input from the researcher. The continuous measurement process uses a reduced scale semi-permanent instrument laboratory, located on the cooperator farm, to obtain gas concentrations within the houses in addition to background levels at the air entrance to the houses. Other data acquisition includes house climate data and ventilation activity. Instrumentation networks require conduit along house ceilings/walls for electrical and gas tubing lines. Data is downloaded by ARS weekly. Spatial and other during flock measurements are conducted using portable instruments.