The objective was to make an unbiased assessment of the odors typically found on swine farms. This information can be used as a guide for future research, demon-stration and educational efforts in addressing odor mitigation. The survey was conducted on 36 randomly selected farms in 7 counties in northwest, westcentral and southwest Arkansas. This publication is a summary of the final report for the survey. The unbiased measurement of odors is complex.
People evaluate odors based on their impressions of the strength and unpleasantness of the odor.
As this is a subjective process, people perceive odors differently. For this reason, the survey used a team approach. This ensured that an average measurement could be deter-mined at each location. To help ensure unbiased measurements, the team members included individuals from the Cooperative Extension Service, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Tyson, Cargill and the general public. There were seven teams, one for each county.