Swine producers strive to be good stewards of natural resources with or without regulations and air mitigation technologies may help to achieve that goal. Environmental and legal pressures may also deem it necessary for swine producers to adopt air mitigation strategies which will allow producers to continue operating or chose a production site that might not otherwise be accepted. Producers need assistance in making informed choices of appropriate mitigation strategies. The National Air Quality Site Assessment Tool (NAQSAT) (http://naqsat.tamu.edu/) was developed to allow producers to assess their current management practices and the areas where the greatest potential for reductions in air emissions exist. A complementary tool, the Air Management Practices Assessment Tool (AMPAT), (http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/ampat/homepage.html ) was updated and further developed to help fill this need for information to make informed decisions by providing producers with a suite of options to address air emissions issues. These options will provide the producer with information on how the technology works, management requirements, effectiveness and costs so that they may more wisely evaluate and narrow their options.
AMPAT is unique in that it is set up to compare mitigation technologies from animal housing, manure storage and handling or land application. These technologies are scored for pollutant removal efficiencies and cost in a central table that can help to narrow the options before providing more information on individual technology pages. Educational resources, including fact sheets, video presentation, and note pages, are available not only to a producer looking for information, but also for educators. Additional links are provided for those seeking higher levels of information.
