Feedlot Dust Suppression Review

Summary

Dust generation can be an issue for many Australian feedlots and can adversely impact livestock, employees and the community. Within a feedlot, the sources of dust generation can be categorised as manure-related, traffic-related and feed-related. Consultation with Australian lot feeders and a detailed literature review was conducted to review currently available technologies and strategies to suppress dust in the feedlot environment and identify new research and development opportunities to suppress dust. Within this report, the findings for each of the dust sources are addressed as follows:

1. Description of dust generation;
2. Data on dust components;
3. Impacts of dust on livestock, employees, contractors, and the community;
4. Dust hierachial hazard control.

By following the hierarchy of hazard control, dust from Australian feedlots should not be a health issue to humans or animals, and should only be assesed as a nuisance.