A Comparison of Gaseous Emissions from Swine Finisher Facilities Fed Traditional vs. A DDGS-Based Diet

Abstract

Expansion of the corn grain ethanol industry has led to increased availability of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), and feeding DDGS to swine is becoming more common in pork production. Because feed is the primary cost in pork production and interest in air emissions from animal feeding operations is increasing, it is important to understand the impacts of non-traditional dietary formulations on aerial emissions. The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify the impacts of feeding DDGS on gaseous emissions from deep-pit swine finisher operations. To complete the study, two full-scale, commercial, co-located swine barns were monitored; one of the barns received a traditional diet, and the other received a diet that included DDGS. The constituents measured during this project were ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and greenhouse gases (GHG) (carbon dioxide – CO2, nitrous oxide – N2O, and methane – CH4). At the time of this writing, results from this study indicated feeding 22% DDGS increased aerial NH3 emission from 3.1 g/pig-d to 4.6 g/pig-d and H2S emissions from 0.10 g/pig-d to 0.19 g/pig-d, but had no effect on GHG.