Brian Whitney of Trenton and Dean Mackey of Parnell answered an ad in their local newspapers to become "sniffers." 
They have no idea who hired them, but they are stationed on Hwy. 190 north of Jamesport near the Daviess/Grundy County line within a mile of a Premium Standard Farms hog barn.
"It’s called scientific odor testing," said Brian.
"We’re called air quality specialists," said Dean.
Their job is to sniff the air and record their findings.
They have a beeper that goes off every 15 minutes. They get up from their lawn chairs in the shade and walk to a designated spot in a grassy area off the highway. They smell through a horn-shaped meter device known as a nasal ranger. One setting on the ranger has a carbon filter that opens their nasal passages so that they are breathing in neutral air. Then they take two breaths on several different settings. The process takes about five minutes.
Afterwards they write down what they smell. They are not allowed to say what odors they detect. They are not allowed to look at each other’s notes.
Despite all the mystery, they both said it’s a good job if you like being outdoors. On Thursday, July 1, the temperature was pleasant at 77 degrees and there was a gentle breeze blowing. They said the weather had not been that bad yet, but they expected some uncomfortable days ahead.
"I know how Missouri summers are," said Brian.
Their station was near an abandoned farm home, just a ways down a slope under some shade trees. They were sitting at one of the better sites, they said. There are seven sites. All are in the general area. Two people are stationed at each site. The 14 people sit at different sites each shift and the partners also change each shift.
They work in four hour shifts five days a week. They work four hours on, then four off to clear the nose, then four on again. They are there until just about dark.
They don’t get too bored they said. During the down time between testing, they read or chat.
Both Brian and Dean said they’d been unemployed and were glad to have a job. It pays well, they said. Brian has been at the job since the first of April and Dean since the last of April.
They will be doing the testing until the temperature reaches 32 degrees or below. They are not sure why that is the cut-off point.
"Smells are not discerned as well at that temperature, would be my guess," said Dean.
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