A decision support system for planning and management of sustainable livestock production in the Midwest

Abstract

Three primary environmental concerns related to agricultural production Include: water pollution from livestock facilities, soil and water contamination from fertilizer and manure application, and air pollution from ammal production facilities and land application sites. To mimmize the potential environmental problems associated with livestock production, there is a need for analytical tools and decision support systems (DSS) that can be used to identify optimal land areas both for siting production facilities and for manure application, and for evaluating the impacts of management practices on air, soil, and water quality. ThiS paper describes the details of LPRDSS (Uvestock PRoduction DeciSion Support System), a DSS developed for the planning of livestock production enterprises and also for evaluating air and water quality pollution from production practices at the watershed and county levels. LPRDSS integrates environmental, physical, and regulatory factors, agricultural database, and GIS into a computer-aided DSS designed to assist decision makers in making rational choices In planning sustainable livestock enterprises that minimiZe environmental pollution. An example application to Taylor County in southern Iowa demonstrates the use and capability of LPRDSS as an effective management tool.