The Rural Voice, 2003-12, Page 20THE HEAT IS ON!
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16 THE RURAL VOICE
with no ammonia loss, and
improving the economics of manure
use. Negative air -pressure covers
which suck the air right out from
under the cover rather than inflating a
dome over the tank have shown good
effects in containing gas escapes.
He also spoke of low protein
feeding strategies with supplemental -
amino acids to reduce the amount of
nitrogen in manure.
Will farmers be rewarded for
these management changes that can
help Canada meet its greenhouse gas
reduction targets under the Kyoto
Accord? The jury is still out on that
one according to DeBruyn.
DeBruyn said research shows
farms do contribute to the greenhouse
gas problem. A dairy cow produces
about 36 kg. per year of methane. A
5,000 head hog finishing facility
would emit about 1,000 tonnes of
methane a year. It's estimated that
Ontario's pork producers emitted a
million tonnes of methane gas in
2002. That represents only about
1/240th of the total greenhouse gas
reduction needed for Kyoto
compliance, he said.
Jf through management changes in
their barns or in cropping, farmers
can reduce this output, is there
something to be gained for farmers in
trading their savings in the form of
carbon credits with larger polluters?
DeBruyn said energy reduction
credits must pass five tests: they must
be real, verifiable, quantifiable, the
cuts must be surplus savings and they
must be unique. If a farmer could
meet those requirements how much
might they expect? It's been
estimated carbon credits might be
worth $10 per tonne, he said. For that
5,000 place hog barn, the total
saving on its 1,000 tonne emissions
would be $10,000 even if emissions
could be wiped out.
How would it work? In
Switzerland, technical vendors sell
the credits on behalf of farmers. "We
need an emissions trading system,"
he said. "We're not even close to that
yet."
The good news for producers with
liquid manure tanks is that those
tanks in existence are not causing
problems from leakage, said Dave
Rudolph, who with Russ Pagulayan
of the Department of Earth Sciences
at the University of Guelph
conducted a study of six manure