Managing Air Emissions from Confined Feeding Operations in Alberta

May 22, 2018

The latest edition of Ammonia and Particulate Matter Emissions Inventory for CFOs in Alberta (APMEICA 2016) is now available on the Air Quality Resources for Agricultural Producers webpage.

The Air Quality sub-unit of the Environmental Stewardship Branch at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF) works proactively with the livestock confined feeding operation (CFO) sector, government, and non-government partners to manage air emissions of concern associated with livestock production in the province.

In March 2012, the sub-unit completed and published the inaugural Ammonia and Particulate Matter Emissions Inventory for CFOs in Alberta (APMEICA 2006).

“APMEICA 2006 was developed primarily to estimate emissions of ammonia and particulate matter from beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry, swine and sheep CFOs,” explains Atta Atia, livestock air quality specialist with AF. “Data from Statistics Canada’s 2006 census for each county in the province and for each month was used.”

In March 2013, APMEICA 2006 was updated using 2011 census data. It also incorporated corrected emission factors for dairy cattle, leading to the release the second edition of the report, APMEICA 2011.

APMEICA 2011 was updated in March 2018 using the most recent census data, reflecting changes in livestock numbers on CFOs across Alberta. APMEICA 2016 includes analysis of data and comparisons with APMEICA 2006 and APMEICA 2011.

Read the third edition of Ammonia and Particulate Matter Emissions Inventory for CFOs in Alberta (APMEICA 2016). For more information, contact Atta Atia, livestock air quality specialist, at 780-427-4215.

Source : Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Video: Making budget friendly pig feed on a small livestock farm

I am going to show you how we save our farm money by making our own pig feed. It's the same process as making our cattle feed just with a slight adjustment to our grinder/ mixer that makes all the difference. We buy all the feed stuff required to make the total mix feed. Run each through the mixer and at the end of the process we have a product that can be consumed by our pigs.

I am the 2nd generation to live on this property after my parents purchased it in 1978. As a child my father hobby farmed pigs for a couple years and ran a vegetable garden. But we were not a farm by any stretch of the imagination. There were however many family dairy farms surrounding us. So naturally I was hooked with farming since I saw my first tractor. As time went on, I worked for a couple of these farms and that only fueled my love of agriculture. In 2019 I was able to move back home as my parents were ready to downsize and I was ready to try my hand at farming. Stacy and logan share the same love of farming as I do. Stacy growing up on her family's dairy farm and logans exposure of farming/tractors at a very young age. We all share this same passion to grow a quality/healthy product to share with our community. Join us on this journey and see where the farm life takes us.