Home	About Us	Degree Programs	Research	Faculty/Personnel	Students	Alumni
John Perkins Chastain - Research (1997 to Present )

Reducing The Impact Of Animal Agriculture On The Environment: An Extension Initiative

The extension and applied research activities related to animal waste management are organized and integrated under the direction of an initiative team that is composed of extension specialists and extension agents from the following disciplines: Animal Science, Agricultural Engineering, Soil Science, and Stream Ecology. The initiative is organized into several project areas to work toward the fulfillment of the following objectives.
1. Develop and deliver educational programs for certification of animal facility operators
2. Develop and deliver programs on appropriate manure application methods.
3. Enhance the adoption of environmentally sound disposal systems for moralities.
4. Evaluation of current and new waste handling, utilization, and reduction technologies.
5. Enhance the adoption of odor prevention practices by delivery of educational programs.
6. Enhance the adoption of vector prevention practices by delivery of educational programs.

One of the goals of the extension initiative is to provide in-depth, practical, hands-on training for extension field staff on issues related to animal waste management and the environment. The following is a partial listing of the training activities that have been offered as a part of this in-service training.

• Demonstration of a screw press separator for treating swine manure, methods to properly collect samples from swine lagoons and have them analyzed for plant nutrient content.
• Use of agitation equipment to remove sludge from a swine lagoon.
• Proper ventilation methods to control indoor air quality in animal buildings.
• Availability of phosphorous from land applied manure, interpretation of soil test results, and potential impacts of phosphorous on water quality.
• Tour of a flush manure removal system on a dairy farm, and demonstration of a rotating screen separator and a two stage lagoon treatment system.
• Evaluation of an inclined screen separator, gravity settling basin, and lagoon on a flush dairy.
• Nutrient management practices for swine, dairy and poultry farms. Calibration of manure spreaders.
• On-farm demonstration of composting of livestock waste and mortalities.
• Treatment of poultry litter and lagoon sludge using vermiculture.
• Field evaluation of stream water quality based on measurements of biota.
• Impacts of grazing cattle and feedlot runoff on stream water quality.
• Aerobic treatment of aquaculture waste.
• Use of animal manure to fertilize commercial pine plantations.
  

Agricultural Biological Engineering Department
Box 340312, Clemson University
Clemson, S.C. 29634-0312
Phone: (864) 656-3250 -- Fax: (864) 656-0338

Website Designed by: Christina Malayil, Clemson University
This page is maintained by the ABE Webmaster.