SKANEATELES - A Skaneateles dairy has been selected to participate in the first nationwide study of air emissions from dairy, poultry and swine farms.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Twin Birch Dairy Farm owner Dirk Young, right, and EPA administrator Stephen Johnson walk by the bank of fans that are part of the current ventilation system at the dairy. Twin Birch Dairy Farm is the only farm in New York to be part of the EPA's air quality study that during the next two years.
Twin Birch Dairy Farm owner Dirk Young, right, and EPA administrator Stephen Johnson walk by the bank of fans that are part of the current ventilation system at the dairy. Twin Birch Dairy Farm is the only farm in New York to be part of the EPA's air quality study that during the next two years.
Over the next two years, researchers will monitor several air quality measures - from volatile organic compounds to hydrogen sulfide - at Twin Birch Dairy, a family farm on Lacy Road with 2,050 cattle and more than 2,500 acres of land. It is just one of a handful of farms taking part in the program and the only one in New York state.
“It's kind of our contribution to the dairy industry,” Twin Birch owner Dirk Young said Thursday during the kick-off event, which was attended by Stephen Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “We also want to be perceived as a good neighbor, be an asset to the environment.”
The $14.6 million National Air Emissions Monitoring Study is being funded by the National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Board, United Egg Producers and National Chicken Council via a nonprofit called the Agricultural Air Research Council.
It will be overseen by the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards and led by Purdue University.
The study was established in 2006 by a voluntary Air Compliance Agreement between the EPA and the pork, dairy, egg and broiler industries.
Local universities at each of the sites - from Texas to California - will also play a major role in collecting and analyzing the data, said Albert Heber, a professor at Purdue and the project director for the study.
Curt Gooch, senior Extension associate with Cornell, will be the principal investigator for Twin Birch's monitoring. Gooch said that he is excited about the study because there is currently very little information about agricultural air emissions available.
So is Johnson, who referred to Thursday as “a historic day” and said that the data collected from the different farms will give the EPA a better idea as to the extent of emissions from livestock operations so that the agency can make informed decisions in the years to come.
“This gives us an important snapshot that's going to provide us with scientifically sound data,” Johnson said, adding that the continuous monitoring provides the EPA with information to better understand the emissions and assure people “that our animal feeding operations are good neighbors.”
Thursday's event included a tour of the technology that will collect the data.
“We're doing this all in real time. Minute by minute, we're getting the emissions rate,” Heber said as he pointed to the particulate matter sensor and gas sampling probe in the main barn.
A trailer beside the barn contains technology that can show the levels of the different variables. Data will be transmitted back to Cornell and Purdue at midnight every day, Heber said.
Monitoring at Twin Birch will take place in its main and milking barns.
Researchers will be looking at the levels of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide. The data will tell investigators when pollutants are emitted and where they're coming from, Heber said, noting that researchers will also be taking into account other variables, such as animal activity, weather and lighting.
All those involved said that it's too early to tell what kind of results the study will generate and how these results might be used in regards to EPA policy. Right now, the data collected is providing baseline information only, Heber said.
“Preliminary data shows that there are very, very, very few farms that would exceed the Clean Air Act thresholds,” he added.
Johnson said that the data will indicate if there is a problem with emissions levels. If there is, he continued, the EPA will then be able to analyze practical steps that can be taken to address the issues.
Young, who receives no financial compensation for taking part in this program, will be responsible for providing the researchers with data on the farm, such as the type and amount of feed he uses, Heber said.
“It's just business as usual for us, and we're just going to go along like we have been,” Young said.
Twin Birch was chosen for several reasons, including the cooperation of its owner, its close proximity to Cornell and the fact that it is representative of other farms, Heber said.
“We think that we can get really good data from the barn because of the way it's ventilated,” Heber added, referring to its tunnel ventilation and the monitoring that will be done of the barn's air flow.
Twin Birch, which was established in 1960 by Young's father, is already well-known for its environmental consciousness. In 2002, the dairy received the Conservation Farm of the Year Award from the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District.
It also operates an anaerobic digester, which decreases the amount of pathogens in the manure and reduces the odor by removing volatile compounds. Twin Birch also uses the biogas, or methane, produced in the process for electricity.
“The main reason for that was to be good neighbors and to kill the smell,” Young said of the digester. “We're also producing green power with that.”
There are only about 12 or 13 functioning digesters in the state, Gooch said, though many others are in the works.
“It's kind of our contribution to the dairy industry,” Twin Birch owner Dirk Young said Thursday during the kick-off event, which was attended by Stephen Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “We also want to be perceived as a good neighbor, be an asset to the environment.”
The $14.6 million National Air Emissions Monitoring Study is being funded by the National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Board, United Egg Producers and National Chicken Council via a nonprofit called the Agricultural Air Research Council.
It will be overseen by the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards and led by Purdue University.
The study was established in 2006 by a voluntary Air Compliance Agreement between the EPA and the pork, dairy, egg and broiler industries.
Local universities at each of the sites - from Texas to California - will also play a major role in collecting and analyzing the data, said Albert Heber, a professor at Purdue and the project director for the study.
Curt Gooch, senior Extension associate with Cornell, will be the principal investigator for Twin Birch's monitoring. Gooch said that he is excited about the study because there is currently very little information about agricultural air emissions available.
So is Johnson, who referred to Thursday as “a historic day” and said that the data collected from the different farms will give the EPA a better idea as to the extent of emissions from livestock operations so that the agency can make informed decisions in the years to come.
“This gives us an important snapshot that's going to provide us with scientifically sound data,” Johnson said, adding that the continuous monitoring provides the EPA with information to better understand the emissions and assure people “that our animal feeding operations are good neighbors.”
Thursday's event included a tour of the technology that will collect the data.
“We're doing this all in real time. Minute by minute, we're getting the emissions rate,” Heber said as he pointed to the particulate matter sensor and gas sampling probe in the main barn.
A trailer beside the barn contains technology that can show the levels of the different variables. Data will be transmitted back to Cornell and Purdue at midnight every day, Heber said.
Monitoring at Twin Birch will take place in its main and milking barns.
Researchers will be looking at the levels of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide. The data will tell investigators when pollutants are emitted and where they're coming from, Heber said, noting that researchers will also be taking into account other variables, such as animal activity, weather and lighting.
All those involved said that it's too early to tell what kind of results the study will generate and how these results might be used in regards to EPA policy. Right now, the data collected is providing baseline information only, Heber said.
“Preliminary data shows that there are very, very, very few farms that would exceed the Clean Air Act thresholds,” he added.
Johnson said that the data will indicate if there is a problem with emissions levels. If there is, he continued, the EPA will then be able to analyze practical steps that can be taken to address the issues.
Young, who receives no financial compensation for taking part in this program, will be responsible for providing the researchers with data on the farm, such as the type and amount of feed he uses, Heber said.
“It's just business as usual for us, and we're just going to go along like we have been,” Young said.
Twin Birch was chosen for several reasons, including the cooperation of its owner, its close proximity to Cornell and the fact that it is representative of other farms, Heber said.
“We think that we can get really good data from the barn because of the way it's ventilated,” Heber added, referring to its tunnel ventilation and the monitoring that will be done of the barn's air flow.
Twin Birch, which was established in 1960 by Young's father, is already well-known for its environmental consciousness. In 2002, the dairy received the Conservation Farm of the Year Award from the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District.
It also operates an anaerobic digester, which decreases the amount of pathogens in the manure and reduces the odor by removing volatile compounds. Twin Birch also uses the biogas, or methane, produced in the process for electricity.
“The main reason for that was to be good neighbors and to kill the smell,” Young said of the digester. “We're also producing green power with that.”
There are only about 12 or 13 functioning digesters in the state, Gooch said, though many others are in the works.
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.