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Methods for treating swine waste in the South have changed little in the last thirty years. Anaerobic lagoons and sprayfields continue to be the most popular waste treatment system. However, lagoons have come under increased scrutiny, especially in North Carolina. Lagoons are popular among farmers because the anaerobic process removes more than half of all the nitrogen emitted at the barn, thereby reducing the costs of land applying lagoon effluent. However, citizen and environmental groups have charged that this anaerobic process also contributes to odor and ammonia emissions. Other complaints levied at lagoons includes concerns about sludge accumulation and land applications of nutrients. All lagoons contain sludge accumulation with high phosphorus concentrations, which must eventually be removed and land applied. Relatively few farms have removed sludge thus far, and when they do, there may not be enough land in most counties to fully assimilate all the phosphorus (Kellogg et al.). (Download PDF)    (Export to EndNotes)