Dr. Saqib Mukhtar, AgriLife Extension engineer, points out features of a
“weeping wall” liquid manure management system at a dairy field day near Dublin. (Texas AgriLife Extension Service photo by Robert Burns)

DENVER — A national conference on the environmental impacts of poultry and livestock production is calling for abstracts, and not just from professional scientists, but from farmers and other agricultural innovators too, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service engineer.

The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center will host “From Waste to Worth: ‘Spreading’ Science and Solutions” April 1 – 5, 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Denver. The deadline for abstracts is Sept. 14, 2012.

“We’ll be looking at the impact of helping farmers taking control of air- and water-quality management, and how it affects overall environmental quality,” said Dr. Saqib Mukhtar, AgriLife Extension engineer and associate head of the Texas A&M University department of biological and agricultural engineering.

An abstract is a brief summary, usually only a few paragraphs long. The term usually applies to peer-review research articles, but can also apply to a thesis, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a subject or technical innovation, Mukhtar explained.

“Examples of the kinds of subject matter are case studies of on-farm experience, climate change and animal agriculture, manure nutrient management, manure treatment technologies, environmental planning, pathogens, and regulations,” he said.

More examples are available at the Waste to Worth Conference website. Go to http://www.extension.org/63747 and click on “call for abstracts.”

For more information and to submit abstracts, contact Dr. Joe Harrison, nutrient management specialist, Washington State University at jhharrison@wsu.edu.

Mukhtar said the learning center has conducted numerous national online educational activities before, but the Denver conference will be the first national meeting of the center, which is a national network of agricultural professionals who work with air, water, soil and climate issues.

“This is going to be valuable information not only for technical service providers but also producers and producers’ representatives,” said Mukhtar, who has worked for much of his career to develop better animal manure and wastewater management technology. “We are striving for a multidisciplinary environment to ‘spread’ the nation’s best research-based science and solutions.”

The conference will include workshops, tours, posters, commercial exhibits, and oral presentations.