March 30, 2007

Poultry farming brings pollution concerns for Canada's Fraser Valley

A conversion from beef and dairy farming to poultry has brought concerns of environmental pollution in Canada's Fraser Valley in Greater Vancouver.

The area contains some of the most fertile agricultural land in British Columbia.

The region, mainly involved in beef and dairy previously, switched to poultry and egg production as it required lesser amounts of land for feed production. With the extra land freed up, farmers there grow vegetables and raspberries and spread the chicken manure produced in the fields as fertilizer.

However, as raspberries do not require much in the way of nitrogen compounds, much of the content in the manure is left unused.

The toxic ammonia in the manure is causing a white haze during spring and summer that irritate the eyes and throat and contribute to asthma, heart and lung disease.

Canadian environmental scientists are currently carrying out studies on the ammonia emission rates and these would be used to retool agricultural practices and set goals for emission reductions, the Environment Canada said.