Iowa's new agriculture secretary wants to spend $22 million over the next five years to find ways to control livestock odor. Bill Northey told a gathering in Fort Dodge that "Livestock producers are interested in odor-fighting technologies," which would be voluntary even if the state Legislature approves the plan, Bill Shea writes for the Fort Dodge Messenger.
"This offers a chance to really address the science behind it and get some stuff on the ground," Northey said at Iowa Central Community College, the day after he unveiled the idea before a state legislative committee. "The plan, he said, is to set up odor-fighting technologies on farms across the state and then assess how well they work," Shea reports. "He said he hopes to have some results to share with farmers after the first year of the program."
Two techniques Northey expects to be tested are vegetative buffers and biofilters, which "place natural substances such as wet bark near the ventilation fans of animal confinements. He said the wet bark reduces odor by 40 percent to 70 percent, but requires farmers to install bigger fans. . . . Currently, there are no state laws to regulate odors from livestock confinements." (Read more)
The plan got a salute from the Storm Lake Times, which said in an editorial, "For years the state has tried to deny that we have a problem, but now we are acknowledging that we have work to do at the state level. . . . This could be the first major step in ending the bitterness and division that has plagued rural Iowa for more than a decade." (Read more)
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