Instructor(s): Rick Koelsch and Aaron Mittelstet
Number of Credit Hours: 3
Cross-listings: AGEN 441, BSEN 441, BSEN 841.
Prerequisites: Senior Standing.
Description: Animal manure management is not a highly mathematical or theoretical aspect of environmental management. It requires the application of engineering, animal science, and agronomic principles to achieve the environmental and economic objectives of a successful animal feeding operation. It can be highly challenging and controversial unless successfully integrated as a resource into an agricultural system. EPA actions since 2000 have made animal manure management one of the more difficult environmental challenges within agriculture. The objective of this course is to enable you to understand both the “state-of-the science” and the "state-of-the-art" of a successful animal manure management system.
Learning Outcomes/Course Objectives
- Describe the primary sub-systems of an animal feeding operation (AFO) and identify those sub-systems contributing to potential environmental risks and regulatory liability.
- Apply metrics for evaluating nutrient related impacts on the environment and identify strategies for minimizing nutrient related risks.
- Evaluate air quality risks including odor, greenhouse gas, and other emissions and list potential strategies for reducing those risks.
- Apply design principles for manure storage and selected treatment technologies.
- Evaluate a case study AFO and create recommendations for managing nutrients, air emissions, and storage/treatment systems to enhance the AFO’s environmental sustainability.