The frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves have been increasing for the last decades leading to heat stress episodes in livestock production. Ventilation systems and cooling techniques are common ways to manage ambient air and heat stress in pig production. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the integration of the Housed Swine Heat Stress Index (HS2I) in a new ventilation control strategy. The HS2I animal comfort ventilation strategy was compared to a common temperature setpoint ventilation strategy on an experimental scale. Two rooms of an experimental farm were used to compare the performance of both strategies on pig performance. Fourteen pigs per room were raised from 45 kg to 115 kg for ten weeks. The initial temperature setpoint was 22°C and artificially increased some weeks up to 30°C to create heat episodes/heat waves. Each ventilation strategy including an extraction and a recirculation fans and a water sprinkling system. The breeding performance; water and feed consumption; pig skin temperature was evaluated to compare both strategies. Results suggested that the new strategy enabled keeping the comfort of the pigs relatively constant according to the HS2I target value. These results show the possibility to improve ventilation control strategies in pig production buildings by measuring and incorporating several variables that influence the performance and comfort of the animals.

Feedlot manure management impacts the profitability of feeding cattle. Composting manure will reduce the overall volume and mass of manure that needs to be spread on cropland; however, nutrients are lost, and greenhouse gases are emitted during the composting process.

Publications on the physical and chemical changes that occur during the different types of manure treatment options were collected and tabulated. Data on greenhouse gas emissions was also collected and tabulated.

Volume changes were observed at the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) for three different manure treatments, using an unmanned aerial vehicle. Composting provided an overall volume reduction of 56%, stockpiling resulted in a volume reduction of 49%, and in-pen treatment reduced the volume by 16%.

Compilation of information available from various research results indicate that minimal handling of manure and incorporation into cropland involves the least energy expenditure, retains the most nutrients, and emits the least quantity of GHG. However, there are numerous interacting factors that must be considered by a beef manure manager to determine the most economical and environmentally responsible method of managing manure as we consider larger and larger cattle feeding operations. Different economic scenarios are discussed.

Analysis of change in climate variables is essential for strategic crop planning in rainfed agricultural regions under changing climate. The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in growing season rainfall, reference evapotranspiration (ETo), and water deficit (effective rainfall-ETo) across the major agricultural regions of Quebec over the historical period (1984-2020). The daily ETo was estimated using the standard FAO-PM equation. Mann-Kendall (MK) test was used to detect the trend of respective climate variables. The results revealed that growing season rainfall, ETo, and water deficit varied between 484.27-741.28 mm, 421.15-554.28 mm, and 20.5-219.10 mm, respectively, across the agricultural regions of Quebec. There was low variability in interannual growing season rainfall and ETo (CV<20%), whereas the variability (CV>30%) of water deficit was high across the regions. Trend analysis of rainfall and ETo from 54 weather stations revealed that 18.50% and 79.63% of the stations showed a significant increasing trend of the respective climate variables. A mixed (positive/negative) insignificant trend was noted for the water deficit. These results evidently indicate that there was an increase in evapotranspiration at maximum stations than the rainfall (18.50%). Additional study is required to address the impact of change in climate variables on crop water requirement and crop yield for major crops at the regional scale to boost the development of sustainable crop management plans in the region.

Porous concrete featuring a high void content has become increasingly prevalent in urban settings owing to its ability to facilitate the infiltration of water through its porous structure. As such, its applications have been explored in domains of sustainable infrastructure and urban agriculture, one of them being an alternate substrate for plant growth. The experiment thereof explores the prospective application of one such product, a cement-free porous concrete substrate with an aggregate size of 2.0-3.2 mm, void content of 30%, and a water-to-binder ratio of 0.2. 16 varieties of plants, mostly comprising perennial herbs, were seeded onto the porous concrete substrate (x27) for a 4-month field experiment at McGill Macdonald Farm. Similar treatments were applied to gravel (x27), sand (x27), and soil (x27) for comparison. Germination of at least one plant was seen in all porous concrete substrates. The survival rate on the porous concrete substrate was high (>70%) for lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), dill (Anethum graveolens), chives (Allium schoenoprasum), clover (Trifolium spp.), and turf grass. Dill performed better on porous concrete substrate than other substrates, with 11.5 X of the dry biomass of dill obtained from soil. Dry biomass values for lemon balm resulted similar scores for porous concrete, gravel and sand (p<0.05) compared to soil (p<0.05), scores for which were greater. Values of dry biomass for alyssum (Lobularia maritima) and sweet william (Dianthus barbatus) had significantly similar scores for all the substrates (p<0.05).