Deep Pit Simulator Modeling Protocol for Individual Metabolism Crates during Diet Studies

Odor and gas emissions from swine production systems are important issues in the United States for both producers and their neighbors. As the swine industry continues to grow and integrate, problems associated with odors generated by pork production will become increasingly significant. The conflicts between pork producers and their neighbors emphasizes the need for technologies that decrease odor production and increase odor control. In order for producers to know which pit additives, dietary treatments, and other odor control technologies are effective, research is either conducted on full scale field systems or in simulated laboratory systems. Researchers must make sure that all experimental simulation are as close to typical production conditions as possible. The laboratory simulation protocol involves animal housing, manure collection, manure storage, and odor evaluation techniques. The purpose of this paper reports a laboratory protocol that determines odor concentration and emissions from manure storage where the animals or storage systems are subject to various experimental treatments.