A commercial odor eater has shown success stifling the stench of hog barns. The next test is proving to pork producers that using the compound also can boost profits.
The compound called NC 2000 underwent a series of tests this summer atNorth Carolina StateandDukeuniversities and substantially reduced both odor and ammonia gas, said Dr. C.M. Williams, director of NCSU's Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center. A university report on the compound's effectiveness is expected to be released within a few weeks.
Scientists have long known that pigs raised in barns with high levels of ammonia gas grow slower and get sick more often.
New Bern-based JAIK Co. is conducting field demonstrations at two farms to prove that hogs gain weight faster in barns where NC 2000 is applied.
The product should be welcomed by pork producers, who are under pressure to reduce the odor given off at the hundreds of industrial swine operations that have been built in eastern North Carolina.
``This is the only commercial product for which we have seen a statistically significant difference in odor,'' Williams said of NC 2000.
Similar tests failed to substantiate the claims of many other commercial products analyzed so far, Williams said, although many compounds now in use have not yet been tested. A new round of tests is expected to begin next month
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