01/18/06 Feedlot scents

Feedlot Scents One of the main objectives to cattle feedlots may soon get resolved. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to tell you why. Manure is one of the toughest problems feedlot managers have to address to keep from being targeted as an undesirable neighbor. This is especially true with urban sprawl coming closer and closer to feedlots that were miles from anyone just a few years ago. The problem is not so much the actual manure, which is an excellent natural fertilizer but the odor and to some extent possible pathogens with manure. Well, microbiologists, Elaine Berry, Vince Varel and Jim Wells at the Agriculture Research Service may be on the verge of correcting these problems for some feedlot managers. Working at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, these scientists have discovered that thymol, the active ingredient in thyme oil, reduced concentration of odor  causing volatile fatty acids and pathogens such as coliform bacteria and E coli. Thymol was applied to feedlot soil in slow release granules. Other compounds have been tested in the lab, and showed desirable results, but none worked as well as thymol in outdoor field tests. Thymol is an extraction from plants such as thyme and oregano and proved to be even more effective in livestock operations with manure holding pits. Who knows, maybe someday picnickers will choose a spot close to a feedlot just to enjoy the aroma. I'm Jeff Keane Capital Press  12/20/05  Agricultural Research Service