Purdue University
Animal Sciences Research And Education
Center
Montmorenci, Indiana
Craig
Williams, Coordinator
Karen Henricks, Business Assistant
Sharon Williams, Clerk IV
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UNIT |
MANAGER |
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Bob Rode |
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Brian DeFreese |
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Mike Grott |
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Fred Haan |
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Gerald Kelly |
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Richard Byrd |
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Jeff Fields |
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Mel Matheson |
USDA-ARS Livestock Behavior
Research Unit Lab
Little Pine Watershed
Wetlands
Purdue
University
Animal Sciences Research & Education
Center
5675 West 600 North, West Lafayette, IN 47906
Phone (765) 583-2400 or (765) 583-1208
Fax (765) 583-4838
The mission of the Animal
Sciences Research and Education Center (ASREC) is to provide animals,
facilities, technical assistance and labor to conduct research, provide
instruction, and assist in extension educational activities.
Research trials vary from
basic to applied and involve many disciplines--nutrition, physiology, behavior,
genetics, reproduction, animal health, and product quality. Faculty utilize the
Research and Education Center to facilitate teaching several Animal Sciences
courses and to help provide hands-on experience for students. Some Extension
education activities held at the Research and Education Center are a Lambing
School, Animal Sciences Workshop for Youth, 4-H and FFA judging, Purdue Royal,
and Tots' Day. The Center hosts nearly 100 tours annually, with an estimated
2500 visitors.
The land base for the Animal
Sciences Research and Education Center (ASREC) consists of 1515 contiguous acres
of highly productive prairie soils and is located ten miles northwest of the
Purdue campus. There are five separate tracts that were acquired between 1968
and 1987. The Research Center, north of Montmorenci, Indiana, is adjacent to the
northwest corner of the Agronomy Research Center. The relocation of animal units
to the current location began in 1968. At another location but part of ASREC is
the Scholer-Purdue Farm, which was acquired in 1957. This 883-acre farm, located
fifteen miles southwest of campus, is managed as part of the Beef Unit and is
used for cow-calf production.
The first buildings
constructed at ASREC (1969 and 1970) were for swine and poultry. The feed mill
was built in 1972. In 1983, state funds were appropriated for construction of
the other animal facilities. Relocation was completed in 1988 for all species
(beef, dairy, poultry, sheep, and swine) plus a farm shop, business office, and
the Indiana Boar Test Station. Additional funds from the University and School
of Agriculture were provided for the aquaculture unit, which was completed in
1992. Twelve quarter-acre ponds were constructed at Aquaculture in 1997, which
further enhances research capabilities. In 1996, the USDA-ARS Livestock Behavior
Unit constructed a 10,000 square foot facility for scientists to identify how
animals perceive and respond to their environment.
Each species unit, feed mill,
and farm operations has a manager and full-time employees. Additionally, there
is a coordinator, assistant business manager, and an account clerk at the
center, making a total of 41 full-time employees. This staff, besides regular
duties, frequently teaches classes and labs, present topics at workshops and
field days, and conduct tours of the facilities. Student part-time employees
average about 500 hours per week. They are an integral part of the work force,
and their experience also provides them with valuable training.
The Center's annual operating
budget is approximately $3.8 million, which is partially subsidized by
University funding; however, a major share is generated by sale of animals and
animal products.
Aquaculture Unit
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Bob Rode, Manager
Phone (765) 583-0351
Fax (765) 583-2490
email: rrode@purdue.edu
This facility is used for
intensive research efforts in nutrition, reproduction, and genetics with new and
established aquaculture species; the manager provides assistance to faculty and
staff. The facility is a 7,400-square-foot building and consists of a
4,700-square-foot tank room, a 480-square-foot research laboratory, as well as
one office, one conference room and a storeroom.
Specific objectives of the
research include: 1) establishing nutritional requirements and management
procedures for rearing aquatic species in Indiana; 2) examining alternative
aquatic species for potential as new sources of revenue to the State of Indiana;
3) toxicological studies and 4) genotypic and phenotypic comparisons of Great
Lakes Brook trout.
The facility meets research
needs as defined by the faculty/staff; it complies with environmental
regulations, allows for change and flexibility, and is constructed similar to
other farm research facilities.
Twelve quarter-acre ponds are
now used for research and long-terms plans are for another 12 quarter-acre
ponds. Future plans also call for an addition to the tank room of the
Aquaculture facility.
Beef Unit
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Brian DeFreese, Manager
Phone (765) 583-2622
Fax (765) 583-3007
email: bdefrees@purdue.edu
The purpose of the Beef Unit
is to provide cattle and facilities for intensive and extensive research in
nutrition, physiology, genetics, growth and development, and meats, as well as
undergraduate teaching. The manager, assistant manager, plus four farm animal
technicians provide labor and technical assistance as well as take care of all
daily management and care of the animals; student part-time labor equals about
1.5 FTE. Facilities at ASREC (located on the Calvert tract) were completed in
1986, and remain one of the most modern, complete facilities of its kind in the
country. The Scholer Farm, managed as part of the Beef Unit, includes 883 acres
of pasture, cropland, and woods and is used for cow-calf production. Scholer's
rolling timber soils are more typical of southern Indiana and its extensive
cow-calf industry.
The breeding herd consists of
270 Angus/Simmental crossbred females. Typically, 120 head of heifers and
first-calf cows are maintained at the Calvert facility, while the remaining 150
head of brood cows are maintained at the Scholer farm.
The metabolism center includes
offices, computers, and conference room for staff use; 16 metabolism crates, and
eight individual pens lend themselves for intensive nutrition and physiology
research. The building provides a temperature-controlled environment and
utilizes geothermal heating and cooling to reduce operating cost.
Two separate nutrition barns
have a total of 48 individual cow or cow-calf pair pens. Their primary use is
for intensive studies where feed and/or water intake need to be measured on
individual animals. Two separate management barns have a total of 29 pens that
can accommodate six animals/pen. These facilities are used to conduct feedlot
nutrition trials, cow nutrition research during gestation, and also serve as
calving facilities through the spring calving season.
Nine mounded lots are used to
manage cows in "drylot" conditions during the winter and feedlot cattle in
summer. The mounds have filter fabric immediately behind the concrete pad and in
the approach to the mound to provide more solid footing during muddy conditions.
Seven experimental pastures are used during the growing season to evaluate
grazing systems. Both cool-season (orchardgrass and fescue) and warm-season
grass species are used. Individual pastures (17.5 acres) may be subdivided into
2 or 4 equal size paddocks to accommodate intensive rotational grazing
research.
Two barns with a total of 32
group feeding pens are used for research with growing-finishing cattle. Each
pen, capable of housing eight steers, has slatted floors with a shallow pit that
is flushed once weekly to a two-stage lagoon. Stage two lagoon water is recycled
into the pit. A third barn is used for intensive research with cattle. This
facility has 48 individual pens and a waste handling system similar to the other
slatted floor barns. Weanling steers from Purdue cow herds are fed in these
facilities from early October through May. Yearling steers may be purchased in
late May and used in summer research trials.
The feed center has eleven
silos (six high-density, oxygen-limiting concrete and five conventional concrete
stave) available for experimental use. They typically contain corn silage,
high-moisture corn, and haylage. All feed records are stored in a computerized
database.
Two separate handling
facilities are used. Each facility has a crowding tub, curved alley, electronic
scale, and squeeze chute. They were designed and located separately to minimize
the potential transmission of disease from feedlot animals to the cow
herd.
The individual-pen barn and
the two grow-finish barns can be flushed to the two-cell lagoon. Affluent from
the second cell can be pumped back to these barns for reuse in flushing. All
other barns are bedded and this solid waste is either composted or hauled
directly to cropland and spread.
Dairy Unit
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Mike Grott, Manager
Phone (765) 583-2526
Fax (765) 583-3330
email: grottm@purdue.edu
The dairy unit provides
facilities needed to meet the research, teaching, and extension demands of the
Indiana dairy industry. Currently, 200 Holstein dairy cows and 200 dairy herd
replacements call this home. The manager, two assistant managers, and seven FTE
technicians along with several part-time student workers (equivalent to
approximately four FTEs) make up the Dairy staff. Through the efforts of the
staff, Brown Swiss embryos are being donated to develop a herd of approximately
20 animals for teaching and extension. As is typical in many Indiana dairies and
because of limited space, we have contracted with an outside party for growth
and development of about 160 of our females. They will return to the herd as
bred two-year-olds.
The research area is
temperature-controlled using air from two geothermal fields. The unit houses an
office for manager, a computer room, conference room, restrooms for visitors, an
observation deck so visitors can view the milking operation and locker rooms for
employees, students, and staff.
The milking parlor has a
double six-herringbone milking system, computerized automatic cow ID, milk meter
system, automatic removal devices, back flush, stainless steel raceways, CIP
equipment, fresh water flush, and 3,000-gallon bulk milk cooler. The cow holding
and work area includes electronic scales for weighing animals, an area to catch
and hold animals, additional space for demonstrations and classes, and a central
area for working and sorting of animals.
The metabolism unit has space
to collect feces and urine from up to eight animals (male or female) and
stanchions for up to 10 animals for intensive studies. All animals can be
individually fed and milked in place using a portable milker. It is also
equipped with a small milk room containing a 275-gallon, self-contained
refrigerator tank to store milk from cows milked in the metabolism area. The
analytical laboratory, adjacent to the metabolism unit, has a walk-in cooler and
freezer for storage of animal samples and processed feed.
The maternity area has 10 pens
available with individual water bowls and feed mangers. Each pen has a lock-in
stanchion with feed box and diamond-grooved surfaces to provide proper footing.
The treatment area has two pens for sick animals as well as stocks, and lighting
for veterinary treatment.
There are two tie stall barns,
one with 32 and the other with 40 tie stalls for individual handling and feeding
experiments. Each stall has an individual feed box, water bowl, and gutters with
standing fresh water for intermittent flushing. There are geothermal inlets at
end of each tie stall area. Cows in the tie stall area have access to mounded,
dirt exercise lots.
The herd barn features a
non-heated environment with ridge and sidewall ventilation and 128 free stalls
in four quadrants of 34 that can be further divided to 16. Electronic gates can
be installed in place of self-locking stanchions for individual feed intake.
Floor feeding, delivered with a mixer wagon, is used for group feeding. Recycled
lagoon water is used to flush the freestall alleys using air controlled pop-up
valves. The floor slope is 1.0 percent. Each quadrant has access to a mounded,
dirt exercise lot. Bird netting is used to prevent birds from nesting. Calves
are house in calf hutches.
Also available is a calf barn
includes four rooms holding approximately 12 newborn calves each in individual
pens and two rooms for 48 calves in a grow-out stage. Individual and group
feeding are possible. Shallow gutters with standing fresh water are used for
flushing. A central work area is used for moving animals easily, and for
processing milk-replacer and other feeds.
The feed center includes a 32'
x 120' building with seven silos of various sizes and eight supplemental bins
attached around its perimeter. It houses a small office, tool and parts room,
and bagged feed storage. Nearby are two bunker silos, (36' x 78' x 12') with a
total capacity of approximately 1600 tons and a barn (40' x 192') for storage of
hay and other bulk ingredients such as cottonseed.
The heifer barn and dry
cow/bred heifer barn are open-front facilities, one 40' x 120' and the other 48'
x 100'; both are used for loose housing.
An underground cement storage
tank is used to collect liquid manure from the herd barn, tie-stall barns and
the parlor. This waste is then pumped over an inclined-screen solids-liquid
separator. Recovered solids are stored and composted prior to being returned to
the cropland. The liquid portion goes to a two-cell lagoon; effluent from the
second cell can then be pumped to tanks at the herd barn for use in flushing.
Excess liquid waste from the lagoon is then disposed of on cropland.
Poultry Unit
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Fred Haan, Manager
Phone & FAX (765) 583-2950
email: haanf@purdue.edu
The poultry unit has
facilities for research in nutrition, physiology, environmental influences and
genetics, as well as for teaching, and extension. It provides fertile eggs to
various departments at Purdue, as well as to other universities and schools for
teaching and research. The manager and two farm animal technicians also provide
fertile eggs to various departments as well as to other universities and schools
for teaching and research. Student labor equals approximately five additional
FTE.
The hatchery includes the
office, computer, conference room, and seven NatureForm incubators, each with a
capacity of hatching 2340 chicken eggs. Duck and turkey eggs can also be
hatched.
Upon hatching, chicks are
moved to the grower unit from the hatchery, and remain there until approximately
16 weeks of age. Grower has 15 light-tight, environmentally separate rooms, 8 in
the west end with 75 cages, 24 inches x 24 inches, and 7 in the east end with 81
cages, 24 inches x 24 inches. The cages have 2 adjustable height nipple waterers
that can be converted to cup waterers. Each room has a triple-deck cage system
suspended over a shallow pit. All 15 rooms are thermostatically controlled and
equipped with evaporative cooling pads. This building also features a 12 ft x 18
ft. laboratory.
Pullets are transferred to the
Layer unit at about 16 weeks of age. In addition to layers, roosters and breeder
hens, populations are maintained for genetic studies. This building has 16
environmentally separate, light-tight rooms, equipped with evaporative cooling
pads. Each room has eight cage rows n a "quad-deck" offset arrangement, with 48
cages, 12 inches x 14 inches per row.
Management Unit II has four
light-tight, environmentally separate rooms with floor pens that are equipped
with evaporative cooling pads. Each room has 12 pens that are 10 foot x 8 foot
arranged in two rows of six pens with a central aisle. The pens have two doors
and a movable partition that allows for variable pen size and / or doubling the
number of birds per pen. This unit is used for the rearing of broilers, turkeys
and ducks. If ducks are raised, a nipple waterer is placed over a plastic
mesh-covered gutter.
The lagoon for waste handling
represents a cut and fill design with 3 cells. A sewage lift sump pump transfers
manure from the shallow pits located n each room of the layer and grower units
to cell one at the rate of 600 gallon/minute. Recycled flush water is returned
to the shallow pits of each room by gravity flow from cell two at a rate of 500
gallon/minute. Cell 3 is the overflow for cell 2; it is then pumped n the crop
land.
Sheep Unit
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Gerald Kelly, Manager
Phone (765) 583-2822
email: gkelly@purdue.edu
The sheep unit provides
facilities for research for intensive efforts in nutrition, reproduction,
physiology, neuroendocrinology, and biomedical research. The manager and one
full-time staff member plus part-time staff or student employees (up to one FTE)
also provide animals for undergraduate teaching. The objectives are to improve
the quality of animal protein and increase efficiencies of production.
The breeding flock has 200
ewes lambing annually, with the goal of half fall-lambing and half traditionally
spring lambing.
There are approximately 50
acres of alfalfa, orchardgrass, red clover, and birdsfoot trefoil pastures
contained in seven-wire, predator control, high-tensile fence.
Feeding program: Pasture is
utilized by the breeding flock during the grazing season. During the winter
months, alfalfa haylage is used as the base ingredient for the breeding flock
rations. Ewes are separated at lambing into pens according to the number of
offspring they have, prior to lambing with the aid of ultrasound fetal counts.
Ewes with twins and triplets are fed higher protein and energy diets than ewes
with single offspring. A 20-percent crude-protein creep ration is fed to lambs
before weaning. At weaning, lambs may remain in the barn or be placed on
pasture.
The research facility has an
expanded metal floor area over a manure pit. It is used to finish market lambs
or house ewes and their offspring. The large number of pens in this naturally
ventilated room allows for greater flexibility in managing and conducting
research projects. The lab and office sections are totally enclosed and feature
a geothermal system that is used to temper the incoming air. Lambing rooms and
labs are used for intensive experimental projects with sheep, and for class
projects. The service room is used for weighing, sorting, shearing, and other
general work.
The hay and straw storage shed
is a multi-purpose facility and also houses ewes and rams.
Animals are fed haylage from
two 14' X 55' silos via a portable feed mixing cart. Supplements from the bulk
storage bins can be added to the haylage.
Swine Unit
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Richard Byrd, Manager
Phone (765) 583-4897
email: rbyrd@purdue.edu
The mission of this unit is to
provide swine for research in the areas of nutrition, physiology, and management
and also to provide animals for the undergraduate teaching and extension
programs. The staff is comprised of the manager, assistant manager, four animal
technicians, and one maintenance person; student labor comprises about 1 FTE.
The breeding herd is made up
of 240 sows and six to eight boars. Thirty-six litters are farrowed every four
weeks.
Eighty percent of these white
females are bred to terminal sires using HampxDuroc and Duroc boars. Artificial
insemination is practiced and occasionally semen is purchased.
In breeding-gestation #1,
animals are maintained in groups of 15, housed in an open-front building with
partially slotted floor, individually fed through gestation. In
breeding-gestation #2 there are 64 individual crates for gestating females and
pens for 36 breeding females. They are individually fed throughout breeding and
gestation. Geothermal air is used for tempering incoming air for both cooling
and heating purposes.
Two separate farrowing
buildings, each containing 36 crates are used on a rotating schedule that
permits cleaning and disinfecting of buildings when empty. Sow feed intake in
the farrowing stall is limited to the gestation level until after farrowing.
Intake is then gradually increased until a sow is on a full-feed lactation diet.
Within 72 hours after birth, tails are docked, needle teeth clipped, ears
notched, and males castrated. Each farrowing group consists of 36 sows over a
maximal 6- to 10-day period. Room temperature is maintained at 70° to
80°F and heat pads, hovers, or heat bulbs provide additional heat for baby
pigs.
The nursery in each building
has multiple pens to hold a litter of 6 to 10 pigs from weaning to 40 lbs.
Phase-feeding is practiced until pigs are moved to growing-finishing units.
Pens in the growing-finishing
area provide space (8 sq. ft./pig) for eight animals per pen in building #1.
Grow-finish building #2 contains pens to hold four to 12 pigs. Supplemental heat
is provided when the room temperature drops below 62°F. Bagged or bulk feed
handling is available. Weighing of animals is done on electronic digital scales.
Phase-feeding is practiced to market weights. Grow-finish building #3 is a
curtain-sided, naturally ventilated building with 32 pens (5.5' X 10' each).
This building has a flush system and is managed in an "all-in, all-out"
fashion.
The swine research laboratory
facility provides rooms for intensive research including surgery. Rooms for baby
pig research, physiological monitoring, and environmental air control are
available.
Manure from all buildings,
except the isolation unit, drops into pits under the floor and flows (pull-plug)
by gravity to a sump adjacent to the first cell of a three-cell lagoon. It is
pumped into the lagoon automatically. Water from the second cell is recycled for
flushing in breeding-gestation #2 and the grow-finish building #3. It is
necessary to irrigate via a center pivot system to cropland from the third cell
of the lagoon.
All sows, replacement gilts,
and herd boars are immunized for parvovirus, leptospirosis, and erysipelas and
weaned pigs are immunized for erysipelas. Sows are immunized prior to farrowing
to help prevent baby pig diarrhea. All animals are routinely treated for mange
and internal parasites. Baby pigs are routinely given supplemental iron
injections.
The Boar Test Station
was built in 1987 to collect growth data on producer-owned boars. The unit
continued to serve that purpose until 1994, when participation declined to a
level that could no longer sustain the unit. It has since been serving swine
evaluation needs and is currently managed as part of the overall Swine
Unit.
We have 2-20 pen and 1-10 pen
early weaning modular units used to bring in outside genetics into the system
for nutrition testing. Each pen in these units are 4' x 4'.
The main building at swine
evaluation consists of two wings for growth studies. The east wing has 16 5.5
metabolism cages and six floor pens to hold animals. The west wing has 32 pens
that will hold six pigs from growing to finishing.
An open-front facility with
outside feeding-floor consists of 12 pens with a capacity of 20 pigs per
pen.
The Swine Environmental
Research Building (SERB) has 12 rooms. Each room contains 12 pens that will
house five pigs/pen from wean to finish. Each room has two separate pits for
environmental research projects. The total pig capacity is 720 head wean to
finish. This building contains an office, laboratory, show facilities, restroom,
feed room, feed and equipment storage room and is isolated from the main swine
unit to allow for outside source pigs.
USDA-ARS Livestock Behavior Research Unit Lab
Goals of this facility are to
identify how animals perceive and respond to their environment and to find ways
to minimize stress. The building has non-slip flooring with post holes every
eight feet so that many different mazes and pen arrangements can be set up. This
versatile facility is available for cognitive research by both USDA-ARS
scientists and Purdue faculty.
Farm Operations
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Jeff Fields, Manager
Phone (765) 583-2400
Fax (765) 583-4838
email: jfields@purdue.edu
The primary objective of the
Farm Operations is to provide support to each of the animal species units at the
Animal Sciences Research and Education Center. This is accomplished by producing
corn and specialty grain for the Feed mill, corn silage for Dairy and Beef
units, haylage and dry hay for Dairy, Beef and Sheep Units.
Annually, 900 acres of corn,
300 acres of soybeans, 200 acres of alfalfa and 130 acres of grass hay are
produced. The balance of land is in pasture and woods. The production and
harvesting of crops and maintenance of the ASREC grounds are done by the Farm
Operations Supervisor, seven full-time employees and part-time student labor.
Soil fertility maintenance, manure applications on crop ground (3 pivot
irrigation systems and tanker-wagon injection equipment) and record keeping are
important facets of this production effort. Support of all animal research units
including equipment maintenance, repair, renovation, and additional labor is
supplied by Farm Operations staff.
Feed Mill
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Mel Matheson, Manager
Phone (765) 583-4785
email: mel-matheson@purdue.edu
The feed mill provides
feedstuffs and ingredients; it mixes diets for all animal and poultry units of
the Animal Sciences Research and Education Center plus other departments in the
Schools of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. The feed mill does not sell feed
outside the University.
Typically, all diets are
custom-mixed to the formulas provided by the various researchers and ASREC
Managers. An average of 200 tons of feed are manufactured monthly.
The feed mill is subject to
Food and Drug Administration inspection and regulations. The feed mill must be
federally registered to manufacture medicated feeds using category II drugs
(those which are restricted and have a withdrawal at the lowest use level for at
least one specie). All diets or premixes are made according to the Good
Manufacturing Practices for Medicated Feed, as outlined in codes of federal
regulations. Thus, accurate records, careful inventory control of all
ingredients and proper feed manufacture are of prime importance. A key element
to success in these areas is a custom-designed computer program. The computer
provides accurate and timely billing of feeds and feed ingredients.
The feed mill features
horizontal mixers, grain-processing equipment, fat storage and handling (fat is
a feed energy source and also helps control feed dust), batch-weighing
capabilities, bagging equipment, and small ingredient storage bins. Corn, the
major feed ingredient, is produced by the Farm Operations, dried in a
continuous-flow dryer, and stored in 32000 and 17000 bushel bins. Corn can be
processed in either a hammer-mill or a roller-mill. Corn plus other ingredients,
including 48 percent protein soybean meal, edible fat, vitamins, minerals, etc.
are mixed in horizontal mixers.
The feed mill operation is
handled by the manager, one full-time employee, and additional part-time student
employees (equivalent to 0.5 FTE).
Little Pine Watershed Project
Purdue Animal Sciences Research &
Education Center
Craig Williams, Coordinator
Phone 583-2400
Fax 583-4838
email: williamsc@purdue.edu
In a cooperative research
effort involving the departments of Animal Sciences, Forestry and Natural
Resources, Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, and the U.S. Geological Survey, a
watershed that starts as the Box Ditch on the Animal Sciences Research Center
and neighboring farm land, forms Little Pine Creek which meanders southwest
through privately owned land and finally through the Scholer-Purdue Farm before
flowing into the Wabash River. Since Purdue University owns land on the upper
and lower ends of this watershed, a unique and pioneering study of an entire
watershed is underway. This should serve as a model throughout the Corn Belt to
show how rainfall, soil-types, agricultural production practices, industrial
usage, and residential usage impact a watershed's total environment.
Sixteen wetland cells, plus a
pumping station were constructed adjacent to the swine lagoon in the fall of
1993. Effluent from the final cell of this three-cell swine lagoon can be pumped
into wetland cells at various rates and dilutions. In each cell, hydrophytic
plant life (such as cattail or bulrush) were established in order to study the
ability of wetland plant life to remove nitrogen, phosphorous, and other
potential pollutants from animal waste. This research effort included Animal
Sciences, Agricultural Engineering, Forestry/National Resources, and
Agricultural Economics.