Spatial decision support system for planning sustainable livestock production

Abstract

Recent shifts toward intensive and large confined livestock production units to enhance economic growth coupled with increased concerns for air, soil, and water quality have necessitated the development of computer-based management decision support systems for selecting environmentally sound production sites and for planning sustainable production systems. An integral part of a sustainable livestock production system is the selection of appropriate land areas that meet several environmental, socio-economic, and aesthetic constraints. Traditionally, regulatory and zoning criteria, in conjunction with manual review and overlay of land cover, soils, and topographic maps, have been used to select sites for livestock production. This approach can be both time-consuming and expensive, and the land areas delineated by this method have been shown to be problematic from the odor nuisance and water pollution standpoint. A more rational approach that narrows down large areas under consideration to a finite set of optimal sites that satisfy the environmental protection goals is needed. This paper describes the development and application of an interactive spatial decision support system to delineate optimal land areas for locating a number of livestock production strategies. The spatial decision support system is based on the ARC/INFO geographic information system and incorporates the effects of land use, soil type, topography, proximity to roads and surface water bodies, and other aesthetic and political considerations, as well as multicriteria analysis techniques. The design and implementation of the system as well as an example application involving several alternative livestock production strategies are presented.