Safety production and application of dairy bedding by membrane-covered aerobic fermentation: Insight into the evolution of mastitis pathogens and harmful gas emissions

Abstract

To solve the problem of manure pollution and the supply of safe and comfortable bedding materials in large-scale dairy farms, this study explored the evolution of mastitis pathogens and harmful gas emissions during the production and application of dairy bedding by membrane-covered aerobic fermentation. Two semi-permeable membranes with different pore sizes (group A: ZT1 membrane; group B: ZT2 membrane) were used for the fermentation test. During fermentation, E. coli, Streptococcus, and Klebsiella were not detected on day 7. The total greenhouse gases emissions and NH3 emissions were 37,426.27–45,697.97 g·CO2-eq·m−2 and 0.46–0.75 g·m−2, respectively. During the application process, the physicochemical properties and mastitis pathogens remained relatively stable, and the gas emissions were lower than those in the fermentation process. The results show that both groups effectively inhibited mastitis pathogens and reduced harmful gas emissions during the production and application of bedding materials. Therefore, membrane-covered aerobic fermentation could be a novel strategy for producing bedding materials.