Published: November 06, 2008 03:07 pm            

Pork Professor: Take safety precautions when pumping pits this fall

Originally published in the Oct. 31, 2008, print edition.

It is a sad statistic but every year people and livestock become ill or die while agitating and pumping manure from deep-pitted barns due to breathing high levels of gases released from the manure.

With crops coming out of the fields, manure pumping and incorporation into fields is well under way. Manure serves as an excellent source of several key nutrients and also as a soil amendment and thus its use on cropland is beneficial. With the increasing costs of fertilizer, manure has an important economic value as well. However, caution and use of good management practices are important during this time to ensure pigs and people are not harmed.

As manure decomposes, a variety of gases, including hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide are produced. When manure is agitated during pump-out, these gases are quickly released, resulting in a spike in levels in the surrounding atmosphere.

This can create toxic, oxygen-deficient and even explosive conditions in the manure pit and building above. The concentration of these gases is dependent on any number of factors, including animal diet, air temperature, surface area of the manure and ventilation.

The only guaranteed way to provide safety for people and animals during pit agitation and pumping is to remove them from barns during this period. Unfortunately, due to issues with timing and ability to apply manure, this is often not possible. To reduce the risk of exposure to hazardous pit gases, here are some recommendations.

• Never allow people to enter a building while it is being pumped. Consider using a physical barrier or warning device of some sort to prevent entry. The Minnesota Pork Board has printed warning tags to place on barn doors. These are available free of charge by calling (507) 345-8814.

• A person should be at the site during pumping. This person should have a copy of the emergency plan and emergency contact information for the site.

• Consider minimal or no agitation until the manure level is at least 1 to 1.5 foot below the support lintel at the pump-out/fan ports, allowing pit fans to exhaust gases.

• Avoid aggressive agitation when animals are in the building — this increases gas release.

• Do not uncover pump-out ports unless necessary for agitation and manure load-out. When uncovered, these ports act like large air inlets, and may result in inadequate air movement in other parts of the building.

• Cover the pump-out opening around the agitator with a tarp to reduce/minimize this opening as a fresh air inlet into the animal space.

• For curtain-sided barns during warm weather, if winds are at least 5 mph, open curtains and run all exhaust fans. If winds are still, leave sidewall curtains closed and run all exhaust fans to draw air down through the floor and out.

• For curtain-sided barns during cold weather, when pigs are big, leave curtains closed and run all exhaust fans. Reduce static pressure in the animal space by opening ceiling inlets and/or curtains slightly so less air is likely to be drawn from pump-out port openings into the animal space.

• Continue to ventilate at an elevated level for one to two hours after pumpout ceases.

• Secure all pit covers after pump-out.

These and other recommendations were provided by Mike Brumm, Brumm Swine Consulting, during our past PorkCast webcast program, and can be accessed from the PorkCast website at www.extension.umn.edu/swine/porkcast.

In addition to an archived recording of the program, a short pit pumping guidelines sheet and factsheet on how to put together an emergency action plan are provided. Use of these recommendations does not guarantee animal and human safety, but should greatly decrease the risk of an asphyxiation event occurring during pump-out of deep-pitted barns.

        

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