Tribolium castaneum is one of the most economically important insects that damages stored products. The effects of several infested or uninfested raw feed materials (wheat bran, coarse wheat meal, corn feed flour), feed products (compound feed for pigs and for laying hens) and flour mixed with brewer's yeast on the food-searching behaviour of T. castaneum adults were studied in a total of 48 combinations. Preference and olfactometer tests revealed that all the tested uninfested and intraspecific infested substrates were significantly more attractive to T. castaneum than the control (represented by part of an arena or olfactometer arm without substrate). We determined that all infested substrates were 2–9 times more attractive than uninfested in the preference test, while in the olfactometer test, they were 3–8 times more attractive. In comparing the attractiveness of the infested and uninfested substrates, in both tests wheat bran was found to be the most attractive substrate to T. castaneum adults and coarse wheat meal the least. The results of the present study contribute to our knowledge of how raw feed materials and products influence the behaviour of T. castaneum and their susceptibility to infestation, and indicate the possible utilization of wheat bran in monitoring processes of T. castaneum in pest management programmes.

The sense of smell seems to have resisted the kind of objective measurement process that might have facilitated settling competing claims about offensive smells by applying a general rule or standard. As a result, authorities, including courts,cannot avoid making subjective judgements of taste. A nuisance lawsuit out of Ontario regarding a mushroom farm, or rather its smells, is used here as one source of material about the difficulties of adjudication in this subfield of the “law of the senses.” Attention is also paid to a curious quasi-judicial entity, Ontario’s Normal Farm Practices Protection Board, charged with resolving, mainly through mediation, disputes about farm smells between farmers and non-farming neighbours. Overall, the article shows that the ex post facto, situated and complaint-driven logic of nuisance that nineteenth-century law used to govern offensive noises as well as nasty smells, and which left plenty of room for subjective judgements of taste, keeps reappearing in the present day. Nasty smells seem particularly impervious to modernization, that is to being managed through objective measurement and preventive regulation.

Broilers are reared in an intensive production system starting with a small initial live weight that increases dramatically by the end of the production cycle. Within the broiler house there are consequent changes in heat, moisture and carbon dioxide production. Microbial decomposition of faeces and litter produces a number of aerial contaminants, particularly ammonia and dust as well as a complex of compounds responsible for the characteristic odour associated with these enterprises. The concentrationof most aerosol particles increases during the production period. Ammonia emissions from livestock buildings have considerable localised environmental effects when deposited on the adjacent land. High levels of inspirable dust can cause respiratory problems in broilers and the particles carry a proportion of the odorous volatile compounds that often attracts adverse comment by neighbouring residents.

In a pilot study, EEG changes during odour administration were evaluated by coherence analysis. Ten normal adults were studied. Simultaneous recordings of 16 EEG channels with, and without, odour administration were stored on magnetic tape for further processing. EEG signals were analysed using a signal analyser. Coherence spectra were calculated between all possible channel pairs on the scalp. The amount of data was reduced by extracting broad band coherence values for five frequency bands: delta (2–3.9 Hz), theta (4–7.9 Hz), alpha 1 (8–9.9 Hz), alpha 2 (10–12.9 Hz), and beta 1 (13–17.9 Hz). Coherence values extracted from the control EEG recordings and those during odour administration were compared to evaluate the presence of any significant differences.

The results demonstrated significant changes in the EEG coherence between the two control recordings (control before and control after) in the theta and beta 1 bands. These frequency bands were therefore excluded from the examination. During odorant stimulation with methyl-cyclopentenolone, the coherence in the delta band decreased in the frontal region, while that in the alpha 1 and alpha 2 bands increased in the temporal region. During odorant stimulation with scatol, the coherence in the delta band decreased in the frontal region, while that in the alpha 1 and alpha 2 bands increased between the longitudinal electrode locations. It was suggested that EEG coherence mapping may provide the basis for the development of an objective test of olfactory function in humans.

In the UK the poultry industry has a good record with regard to surface water contamination and has been responsible for only a small proportion of the total pollution incidents attributable to agriculture. Guidance is provided to farmers by a Code of Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Water. Because poultry manures have high concentrations of total nitrogen, with much of this in soluble form, the pollution of ground water with nitrates is a more serious problem. A voluntary Pilot Nitrate Scheme has been introduced in some parts of the UK which controls the quantities of animal waste applied to the land and also the timing of waste application. Linked to the scheme is a comprehensive programme of scientific monitoring. The broad requirements of the European Community Nitrate Directive are described. In the case of air pollution due to odours, poultry farms were reported to be responsible for 17% of complaints attributed to agriculture. Where appropriate, legislative means exist to reduce the nuisance and a Code of Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Air has been published. Some implications for poultry production in the future are considered.