
New Device Analyzes Livestock
OdorsBy Dawn
Lyons-Johnson April 24, 1998The unmistakable smell of livestock odor will wrinkle the noses of
even the most hardened country folk. So its no surprise that as suburbia
encroaches on farmland, people who havent previously smelled a farm are
turning up their noses at livestock waste and other associated odors.
Thats one reason Agricultural Research Service scientists are looking for
solutions to the problem. But how do you measure odors? ARS scientists at the
National Soil Tilth Laboratory in
Ames, Iowa, working with state and federal agencies and the
National Pork Producers Council in
Des Moines, are developing tools to measure the stink factor in
livestock odors. Currently, theres no standard measure for nuisance livestock
odors, nor are there scientific tools to determine when odors reach
eye-watering levels. Even the human nose, which can detect many odors,
cant separate more than one or two odors in a mixture. And pungent odors
like ammonia can overwhelm the sense of smell. So the Ames-based scientists have devised a mechanical collector
that can be transported to a foul-smelling site. A pump draws a specific amount
of air into an absorbing tube where its collected. Then its
returned to the laboratory. There, scientists analyze the sample by computer.
To date, theyve identified more than 27 different chemicals that create
hog manure odors. The results of the research may lead to improved farm management
techniques to keep a smelly problem in check. A detailed story on this research is available in the April issue
of Agricultural Research magazine, the official publication of the
Agricultural Research Service. The story is available on the World Wide Web
at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/apr98/odor0498.htm Scientific contact: Jerry L. Hatfield,
National Soil Tilth Laboratory,
Ames, Iowa, phone (515) 294-5723, fax (515) 294-8125,
[email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |