Protection Distances for Sufficient Dispersion and Dilution of Odor from Swine Buildings

Purdue University 1997 Swine Research Report. Odor from a swine operation is caused by decomposing manure, rotting feed, incineration, dust emissions, and dead pigs. The control of odor is a significant issue for pork producers (Miner and Barth, 1988). The important aspects for neighbors are intensity, duration, and frequency of detection of the odor. To be considered a nuisance odor, it must be offensive to the senses and materially interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of property within the area. It is impossible to eliminate all odors from hog production because the technology to completely remove it either does not exist or is prohibitively expensive to install and/or to operate. Certainly, good design and management and certain odor control technologies can minimize odor, but the best control for remaining odor is to allow outdoor air movement to dilute the odor with distance. Therefore, the most critical and effective means of reducing odor complaints occurs in initial site selection.