WASTES IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 



99 



cows produces about 14 tons of solid wastes and 

 4.5 tons of liquid wastes daily. An outfit with 

 10.000 cattle on the feedlot produces 260 tons of 

 solid wastes and 100 tons of liquids daily. A 

 poultry enterprise with 100,000 birds produces 5 

 tons of wastes daily. 



Economic studies indicate that fertility value 

 of these wastes to the land is not equivalent to cost 

 of hauling and spreading. If allowed to accumu- 

 late, these wastes emit offensive odors, afford 

 breeding areas for flies and other vermin, and 

 provide concentrated sources of pollution for 

 surface and ground water. 



There are many possibilities for improved man- 

 agement, handling, disposal, and reclamation tech- 

 niques in meeting animal waste problems. These 

 problems are rather new on their present scale, 

 and consequently, have received relatively little 

 research attention. 



There is a pressing need to develop basic design 

 criteria that are amenable to some adjustment to 

 meet the widely varying constraints associated 

 with different enterprises in different parts of 

 the country. Elements of the problem include 

 characteristics of manures, removal of manure 

 from livestock and poultry quarters, storage, 

 transport, feasibility of use on land and disposal 

 by 1 turning, use of lagoons or similar facilities, 

 or burying. Disposal problems include handling 

 carcasses, milk-room wastes, and silage effluents. 



Most of the present methods for handling live- 

 stock and poultry wastes are no longer economi- 

 cally justifiable nor esthetically acceptable. New 

 methods and systems are essential. Engineering 

 competence will be needed to evolve a com- 

 pletely now family of agricultural equipment and 

 processes. 



The possibility of using livestock and poultry 

 wastes as a culture medium for the propagation 

 of organisms antagonistic to known plant pests 

 and diseases should be evaluated. If the use of 

 manure as a culture medium for the production of 

 organisms antagonistic to plant pests and diseases 

 were practical, this would justify the higher costs 

 of -pleading manure on the fields. The value of 

 manure in soil sanitation has not been fully ap- 

 preciated. The possibilities of combining agricul- 

 tural and industrial wastes as an effective soil 

 amendment to reclaim marginal or badly eroded 

 land needs much more consideration. For example, 



industrial wastes such as fly ash and cinders, would 

 improve the structure of some soils by providing 

 better aeration of the root zone. Organic wastes 

 provide some fertility and may appreciably im- 

 prove the structure of intractable soils. 



Procedures for disposal of carcasses by incinerat- 

 ing need to be improved to alleviate their nuisance 

 in producing odors, smoke, and fly ash. Incinera- 

 tion is often necessary to control dissemination of 

 diseases. 



Much information is needed on the effect of 

 materials used for litter and bedding on bulk water 

 absorption and other properties of manure. 



Plant molds exist that are known to be toxic 

 to poultry and, presumably, livestock. Specifically, 

 there is a mold that infects peanuts and is toxic 

 to poultry. Peanut hulls are one of the best ma- 

 terials that can be used for poultry litter, but the 

 presence of this mold renders it useless. The hulls 

 become a liability instead of an asset. 



Chemical analyses of manure from beef cattle on 

 different diets in feedlots would provide useful 

 information towards developing potential uses and 

 methods of disposal. More information is needed 

 on the effects of feeding and management of dairy 

 cattle on the chemical nature of the solid waste 



Emanations from large livestock feedlots must 

 be evaluated in terms of esthetics as well as health. 



Much effort should be allocated to identify- the 

 odor-producing organisms prevalent in manui 

 and to develop techniques to destroy such 

 organisms. 



The massive, amounts of manure that accumu- 

 late under certain operations permit houseflies to 

 reproduce prolifically. These flies create serious 

 health problems in addition to irritating man and 

 animals. 



Treatments of manure that would keep flies 

 and other vermin from using it as a breeding 

 ground are especially needed. 



Even when it is feasible to spread manun 

 cropland, it may be done only during certain peri- 

 ods of the year. More acceptable procedures for 

 storage and distribution without emission of 

 fending odors and possibility of contamination of 

 runoff waters are needed. 



Encroaching suburbs in many rural areas are 

 forcing farmers to change and improve procedu 

 for handling animal wastes, but the cost-price 

 squeeze that continually hovers over farmers de- 



