The Rural Voice, 2000-04, Page 40similar to a traditional modern barn.
Only wet/dry feeders will used to
reduce the amount of additional
water flowing into the pit.
One of the differences is in
ventilation. Instead of side vents or
tunnel ventilation, all the fresh air
comes down from two runs of ceiling
baffle. The air is drawn down, over
the pigs, and into the pit where it
flows over the surface of the
composting manure and is drawn out
through ventilation fans. The
company says this airflow is a key
element in making its system
successful because the air quality is
extremely good.
The company's design also
replaces a single aisle down the
middle between pens along the walls
with aisles against the wall and pens
in the middle. This, they say, will
increase the life of walls and fans.
Having looked at the barn first
hand, Dietrich is excited about the
possibility of bringing the concept to
Ontario. With pig prices "a little
scary" right now, it's hard to
convince farmers to take a shot at
building a barn with a new
technology but if prices improve, "I
think I could talk a guy into it."
He estimates the initial cost per
square foot would be higher
with the high-rise barn but
there would be savings in the cost of
building the expensive liquid manure
tank. There are further operating cost
savings in not having to have a large
horsepower tractor to agitate the
manure and another to pull the liquid
manure spreader on trip after trip to
the field.
Instead, you need a skid -steer to
clean out the barn, a dry -manure
spreader and a small tractor to pull it.
Dietrich estimates a 3000 -pig barn
would produce about 50 loads of
manure a year and that amount could
be spread on only 20-25 acres of
land. And because the manure is dry
and at least partially composted,
complaints about odour would also
be reduced, Dietrich feels.
That aspect interests Caldwell as
he tries to find an acceptable middle -
ground between public and pork
producers. Putting dry manure on the
ground in a form that's not likely to
seep into tiles or run off into open
streams and drains would solve many
of the perceived environmental
problems with hog manure would
disappear. "If you can get manure on
the ground long enough mother
nature will do its thing," he says.
That volume of manure interests
Sam Bradshaw, environmental
communications specialist with
Things to check if you're building a barn
By John Johnson, Engineer
OMAFRA, London
Recently, there have been significant environmental
concerns caused by the construction of new livestock
buildings and manure tanks in proximity to field drains.
The following are guidelines that should be considered to
ensure that risk to the environment is minimized:
• Ensure that field drains within 15 m (50 ft) of the barn or
manure storage are cut off and redirected away from
structures. Older, abandoned tile drains may exist and must
also be eliminated. On most farms, it will be necessary to
trench around the building site to ensure that all drains
have been discovered. Since drainage tile can be quite
deep, the perimeter trench should be at least five feet deep.
A tile drainage machine or backhoe can be used to make
this excavation.
• Do not directly connect perimeter foundation drains,
surrounding either buildings with internal manure storage
or external manure tanks to local field drains. Instead, they
should be connected to a monitoring catch basin. The catch
basin can be connected to a field drainage system, however
provision must be made to allow quick shutoff to the
outflowing tile. In the event of a problem, a submersible
pump could be used to direct contaminated water either td
a storage tank or to a vegetated buffer strips. The owner
must monitor this catch basin on a regular basis.
• Install the joints in PVC conduit pipes with saddle "T"
connectors (as a minimum) or with full "T" connections,
making sure that gaskets are used according to
manufacturer's specifications.
• Make sure that manure tank floors are properly
constructed, using water stopping and joint sealers at
connections with walls and plumbing entrances. It is
recommended that floors have a minimum concrete
thickness of 4 - 5 inches. It is suggested that welded wire
mesh be used throughout for integrity, at the discretion of
the project engineer. Alternatively, other methods, using
appropriate clay or plastic liners can be used in conjunction
with concrete floors to ensure that the tank is leak proof.
These liners should be installed with the guidance of the
manufacturer and/or the project engineer.
• Make sure that the tank has been properly engineered and
that design drawings exist. An appropriate schedule for
inspection should be agreed upon between the building
official and the design engineer. Responsibility to notify
the building official for inspection rests with the owner of •
the project. This responsibility is commonly carried by the
contractor/builder for the project. For a manure storage
project, it is common that there would be up to six
inspections at critical times during construction.
The following are recommended inspections times —
• At the commencement of the building or tank
construction, including identification of tile drainage
locations.
• When ready to construct the footings, verifying site
preparation.
•.Viewing. the completion of any pipes, valves, etc. for
underground systems conveying manure toward or away
from a storage tank.
• At the completion of the footings and floor and readiness
to construct walls, viewing of in-place forming, reinforcing
and waterstopping.
• At the completion of walls, perimeter drains, prior to
backfill and verifying preparation for floor construction.
• When the structure is complete and construction
drawings are filed with the municipality.
For further information, please contact: John Johnson,
Engineer, Structural Design, OMAFRA, London 519-873-
4096 or Don Hilborn, Engineer, Byproduct Management,
OMAFRA, Woodstock 519-537-6621.0
36 THE RURAL VOICE