<b>By DOUG SCHMITZ<br>
Iowa Correspondent</b> </p><p>

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa legislature’s interim Livestock Odor Study Committee late last month unanimously approved a comprehensive bipartisan plan that would provide financial incentives to Iowa farmers who utilize the latest high-tech technologies to reduce livestock-related odors on their individual operations. </p><p>
The committee has already directed staff to begin working on language for a bill, with the proposal to be considered by the full legislature in its upcoming session. </p><p>
 “Odors associated with livestock facilities has been a divisive issue for far too long in our state. It is time to redirect our efforts into finding effective, long-term solutions,” said Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Richard Leopold about the proposal, which calls for $22.7 million in funding to be spread out over the next five years, ranging from $3 million-$5.8 million per year.</p><p>
The proposal was jointly presented on Nov. 28 by Leopold, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Wendy Wintersteen.</p><p>
“The fact that a bipartisan committee of legislators can agree that this proposal offers a significant opportunity for progress on this very difficult issue is definitely a giant step in the right direction,” Leopold added.</p><p>
Northey said the issue of odor became a concern in the state long ago, which was why he, Leopold and Wintersteen started meeting regularly to discuss the plan, along with other related issues.</p><p>
“(We) all testified before the interim study committee previously, and they had asked us for our recommendations on how to address livestock odor,” he said. “We put together this concrete proposal in response to their requests.”</p><p>
Under the five-year proposal, which was developed in late summer to early fall by Leopold and Northey in an ad hoc committee (which later included Wintersteen), Iowa livestock producers would be offered applied research cost-share incentives to adopt technologies specifically designed to reduce odors. Brian Meyer, ISU director of college relations, said five years was determined to be a reasonable amount of time to get technologies up and running, data collected and information gained and shared.</p><p>
“The five-year project focuses on existing and new swine, beef, dairy, layers and turkey farms,” he said. “Within the first three years, applied on-farm research sites would be installed on farms across the state to allow testing under different environments.”
Presented as three tiers of technologies, the first level, Northey said, would have a firm foundation in research and application, but would benefit from further studies. This first tier included such methods as biofiltration, diet manipulation, manure storage covers, tree buffers and siting assistance to producers.</p><p>
According to Leopold, the second tier, which involved more experimental technologies that haven’t been as thoroughly researched or aren’t as well understood, include wet scrubbers, biocurtains, ultraviolet light treatment, topical treatments and digesters.</p><p>
Northey said this second tier would focus on answering specific research questions about tier-one technologies so they can be applied more widely. The third tier would involve emerging technology research, including ultraviolet treatment of ventilation air and solid manure injection systems. He added that financial assistance would be available to Iowa farmers who seek to implement these methods, with the second tier largely subsidized with little cost-share.</p><p>
“Cost-share funds will be available to producers that want to install these new practices and have their effectiveness measured,” he said. “This gives them an incentive to install these practices and not have to bear the full burden of experimental technologies.”
But Northey said he, Leopold and Wintersteen found many of the technologies available to address livestock odor lacked extensive testing and documentation to show how effective they were and how expensive they were to implement.</p><p>
“We wanted a proposal that would get these technologies on the ground all across the state, and would create a significant amount of data to show which are the most effective,” he said.</p><p>
Wintersteen said ISU would be conducting the monitoring and research to measure the effectiveness of different methods on emerging technologies used to reduce odors, where data collected would evaluate variables such as effectiveness, design, costs and management.</p><p>
“We believe the research component is key to finding the long-term solutions that will best serve Iowa’s citizens,” she said.
As a result, Leopold said the goal of the project is to make these odor-reducing technologies available to hundreds of Iowa livestock facilities around the state.</p><p>
“Making these technologies available to just a few scattered facilities around the state is simply not acceptable,” he said. “We need to get these technologies in the hands of as many producers and at as many sites as we possibly can.”</p><p>
Northey said the proposal would address public concerns regarding livestock odors while still using a voluntary, incentive-based approach.</p><p>
“We are at a point where there are effective odor-reducing practices and technologies that have been developed,” he said. “It’s time to take that next step that places these practices on-farm as applied research to further document efficacy and implementation costs.”
Northey added the project would offer a unique opportunity for the livestock industry to directly address odor concerns from the public and to gather credible scientific data on which methods are the most effective and efficient.</p><p>
“The livestock industry has historically been and will continue to be a vital component to Iowa’s economy,” he said. “This project would represent a significant investment to ensuring the long-term economic vitality of rural Iowa.”</p><p>
Though Northey said it is too early to tell whether a specific brand of technology would be eligible, legislative committees, as well as the full Iowa House and Senate, still have to consider the proposal.
“There is no guarantee what (the proposal) will look like at the end of that,” he said. “But again, this (proposal) is designed to look at a wide variety of technology – from that which is fairly firmly established, to emerging technologies that are just beginning to be considered. So I’m confident that this proposal will give producers good information on a wide variety of odor reduction technologies.”
During the five years proposed, Meyer said the statewide ISU extension network would work closely with producer groups, local organizations and others to promote and encourage producer participation in establishing on-farm applied research projects.