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Copyright © 2001 Eastern Ontario Farmers Forum Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Ontario to set manure odor
By Joe Meagher
The province will start testing
manure odor next spring to determine levels that can be tolerated by
neighbours. This fall OMAF engineers will be
busy in a lab finding a "baseline" of odor before taking their
odorous project to the field. OMAF is currently in negotiations with a private
company to conduct field trials on manure and biosolids in the spring,
said Jake DeBruyn, an environmental engineer with OMAF. The project is a
joint enterprise between OMAF and the
DeBruyn said the results of the project are not intended to increase costs to the farmer although some farmers may be forced to use other manure management techniques — like incorporation or wider buffers from neighbours.
"We recognize that for good farming practices farmers can mitigate or minimize potential odour nuisance from manure. We recognize that application of manure is good farming practice with beneficial uses," he said.
DeBruyn said that reducing manure odour was "always on the plate" at OMAF’s Resource Management Branch and has always been an item for consideration for the Nutrient Management Advisory Committee.
Farm lobby groups, however, were shocked to learn of the plan to set odor standards.