Executive summary

The cover of The Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) Document - Formulae and Guidelines for Livestock Facility and Anaerobic Digester Odour Setbacks

The Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) Document — Formulae and Guidelines for Livestock Facility and Anaerobic Digester Odour Setbacks, Publication 853, contains the MDS I and II formulae that are used to determine the recommended separation distance between a livestock barn, facility or permanent manure storage or anaerobic digester and other land uses.

The publication also contains information on MDS definitions, factors, implementation guidelines and calculation forms. The separation distance calculated by the MDS formulae vary depending on the size, type and degree of expansion of the livestock operation, the type of manure storage system, or the proposed new land use.

To assist municipalities, farmers, consultants and the general public, OMAFRA has developed a software tool to calculate MDS setbacks. The software tool is found in Ontario's Agricultural Planning Tools Suite (AgriSuite).

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