They’re not quite superheroes, but the nasal rangers may save the day
when it comes time to building a new feedlot or hog barn.
A group of Alberta researchers became full-fledged nasal rangers last
May after attending Odour School in Minnesota. Their mission is to
objectively quantify odour levels emanating from intensive livestock
operations.
“Odour is a unique and individual perception for every person,” said
Sherry Perih, an engineer-in-training and a trained nasal ranger with
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“We have to get rid of the human bias.”
Odour is a complicated matter. Hog manure contains more than 160
compounds that may cause bad smells to varying degrees. While
researchers are attempting to develop electronic measures to
objectively trace odour, the human sniffer is still the best.
“Noses are the best indicator of odour,” Perih said.
Alberta’s odour control team consists of scientists and engineers from
Alberta Agriculture, the Alberta Research Council and the University of
Alberta.
Last summer a group of five went to livestock sites to track odour
plumes from 950 metres away. They formed an arc and walked toward the
odour, making assessments on a one to five scale of the smell’s
intensity. They also considered wind speed and direction.
The data was then entered into a computer modeling program to predict
intensity and how far odour might spread.
Manure odour is often written off as a nuisance complaint, but
attitudes are changing in the livestock industry as it attempts to
control bad smells. Investigations into new feed rations, modern lagoon
design, biofilters and manure spreading techniques are seriously
examining new ways to control odour plumes around feedlots or lagoons.
Scientific assessments such as trained human odour detectors can test
distances between livestock operations and their neighbours.
With this information, those planning new ILOs hope to develop a
science-based tool to locate new farms and help determine buffer zones.
“Minimum distance separation is based on experience,” Perih said.
“It was the best that we had.”
Buffer zones are calculated according to species and number of animals
in a given space.
Under new Alberta legislation, the Natural Resources Conservation Board
is in charge of approving new and expanding sites. The board can adjust
minimum distance separation based on its own analysis of factors such
as odour and runoff.
“Even if we do this work and they don’t believe it, they don’t have to
use it,” she said.
Electronic technology is in the development stages using tools such as
olfactometers. This involves collecting air samples near barns and
feedyards, which are sniffed and assessed in a lab by a trained panel.
So far, no one has proven that odour from ILOs causes health problems.
However, a literature review of all scientific studies is under way
that should show scientists where more research is needed.
