Abstract
As environmental protection becomes increasingly important in the mind of the public and urban sprawl brings agriculture into close contact with an unhappy populace, the regulation of agricultural operations has created a need for improved abatement techniques and more accurate emission factors. The cattle feeding industry has a large gap with respect to these needs. Increased cattle density, or reduced cattle spacing, was studied as a possible technique to reduce fugitive PM emissions from cattle feedyards. Ambient sampling was conducted over a one-year period, using Federal Reference Methods to measure particulate matter concentrations from two treatments. Five sampling trips produced 30 sampling data sets comparing 13.9 and 7.0 m²/hd (150 and 75 ft²/hd) cattle spacings. The ISC-ST3 dispersion model was used in conjunction with on-site weather data to predict downwind concentrations for both the control and treatment assuming that the null hypothesis (H₀: Increased stocking density has no effect on the emission rate of particulate matter) is true. The null hypothesis was rejected by statistical analysis of the PM₁₀ (P=0.038) and TSP (P=0.003) data. When compared to ISC predictions based on the null hypothesis, measured downwind concentrations implied that doubling the stocking density reduced the emission rate and emission factor for fugitive PM₁₀ (15% reduction) and TSP (35% reduction).
Romanillos, Arturo (2000). Assessing the effect of stocking density on fugitive PM10 emissions from cattle feedyards. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -2000 -THESIS -R66.