Ridgewood_12-002_Odour_AdditionalInfoRequest_L181BH_110913

Mr David Milligan, W Donald Milligan Pty Ltd                                  11 September 2013
Re: Response to Sunshine Coast Regional Council Outstanding Issues Request – Proposed Poultry
      Growing Sheds, Ridgewood                                                 L18113/BH/12-002




Detailed responses to each of the odour issues raised in the outstanding issues
request are provided separately in the following sections. It is noted that for clarity,
the order of response has been modified from the above request.

•      Provide a revised Air Quality Impact Assessment which assesses in addition to the
       proposed sheds:

       •   Provide all assumptions made for the odour modelling including the litter stock piling
           times, footprint of the spreading area, spreading area timeframes, litter moisture
           content with respect to the storage areas and the spreading/breakdown of litter.
           Where the modelling indicates that the relevant guidelines are exceeded, then the
           report should make recommendations for amelioration accordingly.

           The broiler chicken growing cycle is typically a 55 to 59 day period with a
           break of approximately 14 days between batches to allow for shed clean-out,
           maintenance and preparation. Five to six batches per year are generally
           produced from broiler farms.

           The preference of poultry processors is typically for all sheds at a farm to be
           stocked with new birds within a period of 1 to 3 days to allow for efficiency by
           way of synchronisation of feed, catch-out and cleanout schedules. There is
           the potential to ‘stagger’ batches (e.g. 4 sheds day 1 then 4 sheds day 31) to
           minimise the peak odour emissions from a farm. This is typically a measure
           that may be considered as a corrective action in accordance with a Site-
           Based Environmental Management Plan in the event of a farm causing odour
           nuisance. For the purpose of this response, the standard stocking regime
           has been considered.

           Odour emissions from the sheds after final removal of birds and the clean-out
           of the litter are negligible for the period between batches. Similarly, due to
           low bird mass and higher target temperatures, overall odour emissions from
           the broiler sheds are minimal during the first 3 weeks of a batch cycle1.

           In order to minimise the potential cumulative odour impact from the
           stockpiling and spreading of the spent litter, the proponent intends to spread
           within 4 to 5 weeks of the shed clean-out. Under this operational regime,
           odour emissions from the stockpiling and spreading of the spent litter occur
           during the period when only minor emissions are generated from the broiler
           sheds. Overall odour emissions from the litter stockpiles are significantly
           lower than from the broiler sheds and thus the stockpiling period is not
           anticipated to generate peak odour impacts beyond that of the broiler farm.

           A review of the required area for the litter stockpiling has been undertaken in
           conjunction with Callaghan & Toth and a compost stockpiling / turning
           machine manufacturer2. The initially proposed 280m2 bunded stockpile area
           was found to be inadequate to efficiently stockpile the litter.




1
    Typically 10% to 15% of peak odour emissions during later stages of the batch cycle
2
    Seymour Rural Equipment Pty Ltd


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