How do production and manure management techniques affect ecosystems and the environment?
A. Elements in hog manure are all naturally occurring compounds that biodegrade or easily dissipate. When manure is loaded and treated at appropriate rates in lagoons or other systems and is then properly applied to crop and pasture land, the effects on air, water, and soil components of local ecosystems are negligible. When manure is used as fertilizer, it completes a sustainable system. Manure nutrients are used by forage or agricultural crops, particularly corn. Forage crops are typically made into hay used to feed cattle. Corn is used to feed all livestock species. Modern manure management and treatment systems do not overburden local watersheds with nutrients in agricultural runoff, and any changes in local air quality are short term, nonhazardous, and typically involve odors detected at parts-per-billion levels. Because compounds in hog manure are naturally occurring and are not applied in excessive amounts, they are cycled through the ecosystem in the same way as other nutrient
