Manure Management Systems Research Articles

Characterization of Microbial Populations in Two Distinct Dairy Manure Management Systems: Seasonal Effect and Implications for Pollutant Gases Emissions.

Following an increase of the demand of dairy products, higher quantities of manure are consequently produced, with the subsequent pollutant gas emission charge associated with its management. The two mostly used housing systems in the northeast of Spain, cubicles (CUB) and compost-bedded pack (CBP), entail different manure management techniques; thus, our main objective was to describe the microbiota present in manure of both systems during two distinct climatic situations (winter, mean temperature of 6.2ºC; and summer, mean temperature of 36.4ºC). The secondary aim was to correlate these microbiological profiles with literature findings on the emission of certain well-known pollutant gases from manure. CBP showed to have higher alpha biodiversity as well as presenting a remarkable clustering by season, but showed lower network complexity than CUB. Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio was found superior in CUB, which also presented a significantly higher abundance of methanogenic genera belonging to Euryarchaeota phylum, such as Methanobrevibacter, Methanosaeta or Methanosarcina. On the other hand, CBP manure presented a significant presence of Corynebacterium, Pseudomonas or Truepera, among other genera, which activity has been linked to nitrogen (N) transformation pathways in manure. Season also had a relevant role to play on the fluctuation of these populations within each housing system under study. These results show how microbial populations change when manure is differently managed, and how these variations can be related to the synthesis of certain pollutant gases upon housing systems.

Variations in fluorescence properties of humic acids from calcareous soils amended with different swine manures in a long-term soil experiment.

Molecular properties of soil humic acid (HA) can play an important role in the mechanisms regulating plant nutrient availability. This study explores how the structure of HA is altered by long-term treatment with different forms of swine manure and how these changes may influence nutrient availability. Liquid swine manure (LSM), solid swine manure (SSM), and swine manure compost (SMC) were applied to a calcareous soil over 17 years in a long-term soil fertility study. HA was extracted from site soil samples and analyzed using fluorescence spectroscopic techniques, including a Cu2+ quenching experiment, in order to assess differences in the structure and functionality of the soil organic matter (SOM) resulting from these different treatments. Emission spectra of the SSM-HA and SMC-HA are similar, while the LSM-HA is distinct. Procedures such as parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) decomposition of emission-excitation matrices showed that structures in the SSM-HA and SMC-HA samples have lower complexity, whereas the structures of LSM-HA are of higher complexity. Interactions with Cu2+ at different pH levels indicate that the LSM-HA shows more dynamic conformational changes as well as stronger interactions and higher quenching efficiency compared to the other treatments. Conversely, SMC-HA demonstrates relatively stable binding constant (Ka) values across different pH levels. The binding constants and quenching efficiency of SSM-HA are significantly affected by changes in pH. This study shows distinct structural characteristics of HA formed under different manure management systems and provides valuable insights into how these variations may impact nutrient dynamics in soils.

National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Potential from Adopting Anaerobic Digestion on Large-Scale Dairy Farms in the United States.

Waste-to-energy systems can provide a functional demonstration of the economic and environmental benefits of circularity, innovation, and reimagining existing systems. This study offers a robust quantification of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction potential of the adoption of anaerobic digestion (AD) technology on applicable large-scale dairy farms in the contiguous United States. GHG reduction estimates were developed through a robust life cycle modeling framework paired with sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Twenty dairy configurations were modeled to capture important differences in housing and manure management practices, applicable AD technologies, regional climates, storage cleanout schedules, and methods of land application. Monte Carlo results for the 90% confidence interval illustrate the potential for AD adoption to reduce GHG emissions from the large-scale dairy industry by 2.45-3.52 MMT of CO2-eq per year considering biogas use only in renewable natural gas programs and as much as 4.53-6.46 MMT of CO2-eq per year with combined heat and power as an additional biogas use case. At the farm level, AD technology may reduce GHG emissions from manure management systems by 58.1-79.8% depending on the region. Discussion focuses on regional differences in GHG emissions from manure management strategies and the challenges and opportunities surrounding AD adoption.

Organic or Non-organic Agriculture: Comparison of Organic and Conventional Farming Sustainability

Reduction of the level of greenhouse gas emissions from sector of agriculture are one of the serious issues across European Union. The dairy industry is responsible for generating a significant amount of emissions from enteric fermentation, manure and long-term storage. The amount of emissions produced depends highly on factors such as livestock feeding and manure management systems, feed intensity and quality. Farms that have high milk yield also produce more liquid manure, leading to an increase in overall emissions from manure management.Organic farming has been valued as one of the most suitable solutions to conventional agriculture for the achievement of climate goals. Organic farming can be described as a farming approach based on prevention, ecological processes, and the restriction of pesticides. Restricting pests and lower yields can have a negative impact on production costs and revenues. However, organic farming has lower operating costs and higher product costs, which can increase overall incomes.The research aims to evaluate the environmental, economic and social dimensions of conventional and organic farming, comparing were comparing on their integral environmental, economic and social sustainability. The core element for the sustainability assessment is the construction of the composite sustainability index using data for scientific literature, reports and statistics.

Environmental impacts of Australian pork in 2020 and 2022 determined using lifecycle assessments

Context The Australian pork industry is highly efficient, with a history of ongoing productivity and environmental improvement. The introduction of economy-wide environmental targets require delivering and tracking performance improvement. Aims This study determined carbon footprint (greenhouse gas [GHG] and land use [LU] and direct land use change [dLUC] emissions, reported as kg CO2-e), fossil energy (MJ), freshwater consumption (L), water stress (L H2O-e), land occupation (m2) and eutrophication potential (nitrogen and phosphorus) for Australian pork for 2020 and 2022. Variability between housing, manure management systems, and regions were identified, and systems analysed to determine new options for low-impact pork. Methods In the largest Australian study of its kind, data for ~70% of pigs produced were collected using a stratified design. Using attributional life cycle assessment, impacts were reported per kilogram of liveweight (LW), post-processed, retail, and boneless, fat-corrected pork. Results are presented as industry averages ± 2 × s.d. Key results Key results were 3.0 ± 0.1 and 3.0 ± 0.1 kg CO2-e GHG, 0.4 ± 0.07 and 0.3 ± 0.03 kg CO2-e LU and dLUC, 12.9 ± 0.5 and 13.4 ± 0.5 MJ, 93.8 ± 9.6 and 52.5 ± 3.6 L, 68.4 ± 6.7 and 43.2 ± 3.3 L H2O-e, and 12.0 ± 0.9 and 12.7 ± 0.9 m2/kg LW in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Due to industry growth, total emissions were higher in 2022. Eutrophication potential for Australian pork (2.2 × 10−4 ± 3.0 × 10−5 kg phosphorus and 8.7 × 10−3 ± 3.5 × 10−4 kg nitrogen/kg LW), reported for the first time, was low compared with grazing systems and European piggeries. Conclusions Industry has demonstrated long-term performance improvement, though the rate slowed between 2020 and 2022. Ongoing interventions are required to return to trend. Covered pond, deep litter, and outdoor systems produce lower carbon footprint pork and can provide other environmental benefits from renewable energy, and reduced fossil energy demand. Implications There is potential to further reduce environmental impacts through practice change. If industry is to meet formal targets, investment and proactive policy settings are required to overcome barriers to adoption of existing technology and support the techno-economic case for novel strategies.

Characterizing Spatial and Temporal Variations in N2O Emissions from Dairy Manure Management in China Based on IPCC Methodology

The emission factor method (Tier 1) recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is commonly used to estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock and poultry farms. However, the estimation accuracy may vary due to practical differences in manure management across China. The objectives of this study were to estimate the direct and indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from dairy manure management between 1990 and 2021 in China and characterize its spatial and temporal variations following IPCC guideline Tier 2. The N2O emission factor (EF) of dairy cow manure management systems was determined at the national level and regional level as well. The results showed that the national cumulative N2O emission of manure management from 1990 to 2021 was 113.1million tons of CO2 equivalent, ranging from 90.3 to 135.9 million tons with an uncertainty of ±20.2%. The annual EF was 0.021 kg N2O-N (kg N)−1 for total emissions, while it was 0.014 kg N2O-N (kg N)−1 for direct emissions. The proportions of N2O emissions in North China, Northeast China, East China, Central and Southern China, Southwest China and Northwest China were 32.3%, 18.6%, 11.4%, 5.8%, 6.1% and 25.8%, respectively. In addition, N2O emissions varied among farms in different scales. The respective proportions of total N2O emissions from small-scale and large-scale farms were 64.8% and 35.2% in the past three decades. With the improvement in farm management and milk production efficiency, the N2O emissions per unit mass of milk decreased from 0.77 × 10−3 kg to 0.48 × 10−3 kg in 1990–2021. This study may provide important insights into compiling a GHG emission inventory and developing GHG emission reduction strategies for the dairy farming system in China.

Nutrient imbalances of smallholder dairy farming systems in Indonesia: The relevance of manure management

CONTEXTNitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) imbalances from dairy farming systems (DFSs) lead to environmental problems, such as eutrophication. OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to quantify nutrient deficits and losses from DFSs with different manure management systems (MMSs) at the farm level and at the levels of its sub-systems. METHODSWe compared NP balances of 30 farms with four different MMSs: applying manure directly on forage land, without treatment (ADL), selling or exporting manure (SEL), using manure for anaerobic digestion (ADI), and discharging manure (DIS). NP balances were calculated based on differences between in- and outflows. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSResults showed that N balances at DFS averaged 222 kg N farm−1 yr−1 and did not differ between MMSs. Average P balances at DFS differed between MMSs; balances were highest for DIS (83 kg P farm−1 yr−1), and lowest for SEL (−25 kg P farm−1 yr−1). Soil P balances did not differ between MMSs and were mostly negative, except for four ADL farms. Annually, all dairy farms in Lembang region are estimated to cause a nutrient loss of ∼1061 tons of N and ∼ 290 tons of P, and extract 8 tons of P from soils. Overall, high NP imbalances are caused by discharging manure into the environment. SIGNIFICANCETo reduce imbalances, collection and on-farm use of manure must be improved, and excess manure needs to be sold to crop farms. The carrying capacity for high-input high-output dairy farming is determined by the capacity of arable farms to apply the manure surpluses.

Enhancing swine manure treatment: A full-scale techno-economic assessment of nitrogen recovery, pure oxygen aeration and effluent polishing

In regions with intensive livestock production, managing the environmental impact of manure is a critical challenge. This study, set in Flanders (Belgium), evaluates the effectiveness of integrating process intensification measures into the treatment of piggery manure to mitigate nitrogen (N) surplus issues. The research investigates the techno-economic benefits of implementing three key interventions: pure oxygen (PO) aeration, ammonia (NH3) stripping-scrubbing (SS) pretreatment, and tertiary treatment using constructed wetlands (CW), within the conventional nitrification-denitrification (NDN) process.Conducted at a full-scale pig manure treatment facility, our analysis employs steady-state mass balances for N and phosphorus (P) to assess the impact of these process intensification strategies. Findings indicate that the incorporation of advanced treatment steps significantly enhances the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the manure management system. Specifically, the application of PO aeration is shown to reduce overall treatment costs by nearly 4%, while the addition of an NH3 SS unit further decreases expenses by 1–2%, depending on the counter acid utilized. Moreover, the implementation of a CW contributes an additional 4% in cost savings.Collectively, these measures offer substantial improvements in processing capacity, reduction of by-product disposal costs, and generation of additional revenue from high-quality fertilising products. The study highlights the potential of advanced treatment technologies to provide economically viable and environmentally sustainable solutions for manure management in livestock-dense regions, emphasizing the cumulative economic benefit of a holistic approach to process intensification (10%).

Model Adaptation and Validation for Estimating Methane and Ammonia Emissions from Fattening Pig Houses: Effect of Manure Management System.

This paper describes a model for the prediction of methane and ammonia emissions from fattening pig houses. This model was validated with continuous and discrete measurements using a reference method from two manure management systems (MMS): long storage (LS) in deep pits and short storage (SS) by daily flushing of a shallow pit with sloped walls and partial manure dilution. The average calculated methane and ammonia emissions corresponded well with the measured values. Based on the calculated and measured results, the average calculated CH4 emission (18.5 and 4.3 kg yr-1 per pig place) was in between the means from the continuous data from sensors (15.9 and 5.6 kg yr-1 per pig place) and the means from the discrete measurements using the reference method (22.0 and 3.1 kg yr-1 per pig place) for the LS and SS systems, respectively. The average calculated NH3 emission (2.6 and 1.4 kg yr-1 per pig place) corresponded well with the continuous data (2.6 and 1.2 kg yr-1 per pig place) and the discrete measurements using the reference method (2.7 and 1.0 kg yr-1 per pig place) from LS and SS, respectively. This model was able to predict the reduction potential for methane and ammonia emissions by the application of mitigation options. Furthermore, this model can be utilized as a predictive tool, enabling timely actions to be taken based on the emission prediction. The upgraded model with robust calculation rules, extensive validations, and a simplified interface can be a useful tool to assess the current situation and the impact of mitigation measures at the farm level.

Impact of Small Anaerobic Digester on Household Economy of Bangladeshi Livestock Farmers

An extensive survey was performed covering all the regions of the country to find out the overall impacts of bio-digester on the economy of livestock farmers. Five districts were selected; ten farmers with having bio-digester of 3.2 m3 on average and ten farmers who have no bio-digester were selected from each district. Through direct interviewing and farm monitoring, all farm characteristics, i.e., diurnal biogas production, power generation, cooking time, income and expenditures, farmer’s gross earnings, and manure management practices data were collected accordingly. Descriptive statistics and student t-test was made to express the comparison response of the farms by using XL and SPSS software. It was observed that the owners of anaerobic digesters earned significantly (p < 0.001) more than the traditional farmers by selling animals and biogas (1715 & 306; 1146 & 0.00 USD, respectively). Not only that, by selling milk and fresh manure, the owners of bio-digester harvested more (p < 0.05) annual income than non-bio-digester farmers (4162, 3408 & 60.91, 44.63 USD, respectively). Though the expenditure of farmers having digester was high, but in a single fiscal year, they earned more (p < 0.05) profit than the conventional farmers (USD 4329 & 2842, respectively). However, owners of bio-digester used 67.2 % of their produced manure for gas production. Regarding storing manure as biomass and using it for cooking purposes significant difference (p < 0.001) was observed that was also reflected in the total manure management system of a farm. The farmers having no bio-digester stored 71.95% of their total manure in solid form, whereas the farmers who had bio-digester only stored 20.4% of their manure, which made a significant (p < 0.001) difference. From the biogas chamber, in an average one farmer used a gas stove for 4-5 hours and a gas lamp for 6-8 hours, which saved at least the expenditure of 18 USD per month/household. The notable thing was that the bio-digester alone contributed 7% to those farmers’ gross economy by producing gas. It can be recommended that the rural householders could generate power by installing bio-digester and turn a small bio-digester as a beneficial avenue of their household economy.

The greenhouse gas emissions from meat sheep production contribute double of household consumption in a Eurasian meadow steppe

With the rapid development of the economy, household activities have emerged as an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making them a crucial focal point for research in the pursuit of sustainable development and carbon emission reduction. Hulunber, as a typical steppe region in eastern Eurasia, is representative of studying the GHG emissions from household ranches, which are the basic production units in this region. In this paper, based on survey data of 2018 and 2019, we quantified and assessed GHG emissions from household ranches by combining life cycle assessment (LCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches, with LCA to define household ranches system boundary and SEM to determine the key driving factors of emissions. The results showed that GHG emissions of meat sheep live weight was 23.54 kg CO2-eq/kg. The major contributor to household GHG emissions was enteric methane (55.23 %), followed by coal use (20.80 %) and manure management systems (9.16 %), and other contributing factors (14.81 %). The SEM results indicated that the GHG emissions from household ranches were derived primarily by economic level, while the economic level was significantly affected by income. This study also found a significant positive and linear correlation between household GHG emissions and the number of meat sheep (R2 = 0.89, P < 0.001). The GHG emissions from meat sheep production (67.52 %) were double times greater than household livelihood consumption (32.48 %). These findings emphasized the importance of reducing emissions from meat sheep production and adjusting the energy mix of household livelihood, contributing to the establishment of a low-carbon household livelihood operation.

Microbial diversity in dairy manure environment under liquid-solid separation systems

ABSTRACT In dairy manure, a wide array of microorganisms, including many pathogens, survive and grow under suitable conditions. This microbial community offers a tremendous opportunity for studying animal health, the transport of microbes into the soil, air, and water, and consequential impacts on public health. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of manure management practices on the microbial community of manure. The key novelty of this work is to identify the impacts of various stages of manure management on microbes living in dairy manure. In general, the majority of dairy farms in California use a flush system to manage dairy manure, which involves liquid-solid separations. To separate liquid and solid in manure, Multi-stage Alternate Dairy Effluent Management Systems (ADEMS) that use mechanical separation systems (MSS) or weeping wall separation systems (WWSS) are used. Thus, this study was conducted to understand how these manure management systems affect the microbial community. We studied the microbial communities in the WWSS and MSS separation systems, as well as in the four stages of the ADEMS. The 16S rRNA gene from the extracted genomic DNA of dairy manure was amplified using the NovoSeq Illumina next-generation sequencing platform. The sequencing data were used to perform the analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and multi-response permutation procedure (MRRP) statistical tests, and the results showed that microbial communities among WWSS and MSS were significantly different (p < 0.05). These findings have significant practical implications for the design and implementation of manure management practices in dairy farms.

Ṇitrogen footprint of Korean beef cattle farms: Scenarios toward more sustainable production

AbstractNitrogen (N) lost during beef cattle production accompanies various environmental risks and has become a rising concern among agricultural stakeholders. The objective of this study was to quantify the N footprint of producing Hanwoo beef cattle, which is a Korean indigenous breed of cattle, in Korea at the farm gate through a life cycle assessment approach. Field surveys were conducted on 106 farms across 9 provinces to identify regional distinctions in farming systems and evaluate total N losses from beef production. N losses were calculated using emission factors from the refined IPCC guidelines, which were then expressed as N footprint (g N/kg of live body weight (LBW)). Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses were deployed to evaluate the precision of the results and identify factors that contributed to the output. The N footprint averaged 132.7(± 61.8) g N/kg LBW and varied between provinces according to animal categories, manure management systems, land use and fertilizer application rates. Volatilization was the highest contributing factor, followed by leaching and denitrification, each representing 68.5, 21.4, and 10.1 percent of the N footprint, respectively. The uncertainty of the result was found to be 46.6 percent and was highly associated with emission factor uncertainties. We devised five mitigation scenarios that are cost effective and do not penalize productivity and evaluated their capacity for reducing N footprint: (i) dietary modifications to decrease animal N excretion rate; (ii) microorganism additives to reduce volatilization from housing; (iii) manure storages recycling manure within the farm to replace synthetic fertilizers; (iv) distributing biochar to the field after fertilizer application to curtail losses from crop production; (v) combination of i, ii, iii, and iv. Combining these scenarios demonstrated the potential to reduce 12.1 percent of the total N footprint. The extents of mitigation scenarios varied across provinces (ranging from 5.2 to 21.7 percent) and were shown to be contingent on feeding practices and type of crop cultivated. Overall, our study provides a national metric that can be utilized to communicate the environmental impacts of Korean beef production. The analyses indicate that more precise results could be achieved with future endeavors towards developing country-specific emission factors. The mitigation potentials of the presented scenarios propose possibilities for feasible and sustainable beef production in Korea.

Global Warming Potential and Life Cycle Cost of Conventional and Potentially Low-Carbon Philippine Swine Production Systems

This study identified and evaluated conventional and low-carbon swine production systems through a review of literature and visits to commercial farrow-to-finish swine farms in the Philippines, aiming to recommend a swine production system that cost-effectively reduces GHG emissions. Parameters assessed were greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, carbon and payback period, and return on investment through conduct of life cycle assessment. The identified conventional technologies are open-sided housing system, slatted flooring, modified manual feeding system, nipple drinker, and scrapper and power sprayer as cleaning systems. The identified low carbon technologies are low protein swine feed formulation supplemented with amino acids and partial substitution of soybean meal with Protein-Enriched Copra Meal (PECM), open-sided housing with cemented flooring, manual feeding system, bite ball valve, scrapper combined with power sprayer as cleaning system, and biogas digester as manure management system. These entailed a GHG emission reduction potential of 31.93% in reference to the conventional system. The low carbon production system accounted for higher return on investment of 36.75% and shorter payback period at 2.72 years, compared to the conventional system that yielded 19.96% and 5.01 years, respectively. The identified low carbon swine farm production system can be a cost-effective alternative to the conventional production system.

Waste Management Practices of Dairy Buffalo Farmers in Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Effective waste management in dairy buffalo farming is vital to ensure the health and productivity of a farm and its farmers, as well as to minimize negative environmental impacts. This study examined the waste management practices of dairy buffalo farmers in Nueva Ecija, Philippines in relation to their socio-economic status and farm profile. Fifty-nine dairy buffalo farmers were interviewed face-to-face using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires to gather data on their socio-demographic and economic profiles, farm profiles, and waste management system. Principal Component Analysis and binary regression were used to determine correlation between socio-economic status and farm profile with their manure management systems. Eighty percent of the respondents practiced stockpiling while 12% practiced vermi-composting. The liquid waste is disposed of via open channels going to rice fields, rivers, creeks, irrigation canals, forage areas, or vacant lots. The non-biodegradable farm waste is either buried, burned, thrown in a vacant area, reused, sold or given to garbage collectors. The regression model revealed that the significant determinant of manure management system was animal holding (p&lt;0.05) which indicates that as the animal holding of the dairy farmers increased by 1 unit, there was a .23 increase in the probability that the dairy farmers will practice stockpiling. The agencies concerned need to intensify efforts to disseminate suitable, cost-effective, efficient and sustainable interventions related to waste management for dairy buffalo farms.

Pengelolaan Limbah Kotoran Hewan Menjadi Pupuk Organik dan Optimalisasi Pemasaran Menggunakan Media Digital pada Peternakan Kambing di Tengah Kota Semarang

The service that will be carried out is to answer the problem of an active goat farm called Ciliwung Farm which is in the middle of Semarang City, precisely in the Citarum area, East Semarang District. Besides being in the middle of the city, this farm has a number of goats and sheep of approximately 80 heads. It is feared that the location of the farm which is really in the middle of a settlement will create disturbances for the people who are in the vicinity. There is also quite a lot of livestock manure produced, around 40kg - 80kg per day, where the manure is not processed at all by breeders and is only sold to goat manure collectors at very cheap prices, namely Rp. 500 - Rp. 2,000 per kilogram. Then the purpose of this service is to make a goat manure management system from the beginning until it can finally become organic fertilizer that has economic value. Starting from making tools and materials to process goat manure into organic fertilizer, making packaging or packaging from organic fertilizer (including tools and materials for making packaging), to the process of marketing organic fertilizer using digital media as a media for promotion and sales. So that Ciliwung Farm can process its own livestock manure into organic fertilizer and can market its own organic fertilizer. The results of this service apart from the animal manure processing equipment and digital media as a marketing medium are publishing devotional journals in national journals with ISSN, involving articles in electronic media and video content of community service activities

Impact of smallholder cattle farms on the environment: a study.

With increasing evidence of global warming, the pressure is building to limit greenhouse gas emission from many human activities including dairy production systems. In this context, the present study was conducted to estimate the carbon footprint (CF) of cattle milk produced in the Hisar district of Haryana, India. The data about feeding practices, crops grown, manure management systems, etc. was collected through personal interviews with cattle-rearing rural male farmers chosen through multistep random sampling. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was adopted to estimate carbon footprint, with the system boundary being "Cradle to farm gate." The latest methodologies prescribed by the IPCC were used to estimate GHG emissions using the tier-2 approach. The current study has presented a detailed and recent GHG inventory from smallholder cattle farms at the village level. On the basis of the inventory analysis, a simplified life cycle-based analysis is used in order to quantify the carbon footprint of fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM). The carbon footprint of cattle milk was estimated at 2.13 kg CO2-eq/kilogram FPCM. Enteric fermentation was the most potent contributor to GHG, contributing around 35.5% of the total emissions, followed by manure management (13.8%) and soil management (8.2%). Further studies to accurately estimate carbon footprint are advocated besides suggesting ways to reduce GHG emissions and using efficient production technologies.

Quantifying ammonia lost to the atmosphere during manure storage on a dairy farm as influenced by management and meteorological parameters

Storing manure provides opportunities for dairy farms to maximize using the manure value as a fertilizer, reduce handling costs, and minimize its potential to pollute the environment. However, it also presents the potential to lose the nitrogen in manure to the atmosphere through volatilization as ammonia. Knowing the quantities of nitrogen lost is critical to inform the decision-making process related to developing mitigation strategies. This study aimed to quantify ammonia lost at the farm scale level from manure stored in a clay pit at a dairy farm during two storage periods. The ammonia concentrations, manure temperature, and local meteorological factors were measured and used to calculate the ammonia flux. Further, the crusting on stored manure surface was characterized and related to ammonia loss. The ammonia flux ranged from 0.26 ± 0.01 g m−2 d−1 to 1.30 ± 0.05 g m−2 d−1, averaging 0.57 ± 0.02 g m−2 d−1. Of the local meteorological factors, the wind speed influenced ammonia loss the most, but the ammonia flux patterns were related more closely to the manure temperature than other meteorological factors. The crusting of the manure suppressed the ammonia loss. However, manure agitation before land application accounted for about 25% of the nitrogen loss. The ammonia lost during storage accounted for about 5% of the total nitrogen in the manure going into storage. The outcome of this work contributes knowledge that farmers, practitioners, and policymakers can use to design and improve the guidelines to formulate effective farm manure management and mitigation practices and regulatory programs to minimize ammonia loss from dairy farms using manure scrapers and clay storage pits as part of their manure management system.

Strategic Thinking for Bold Goals

Strategic Thinking for Bold Goals

Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emission and Global Warming Potential of Livestock Sector; Lake District, Türkiye

The calling on livestock is increasing fast because of the population and economic broadening. In recent years, the contribution of the livestock sector to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change has been a concern. This sector accounts for the second largest share of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions after the energy sector. The storage of animal manure is very important in this respect. Because gases such as nitrous oxide and methane, which are important greenhouse gases, are formed during storage. Therefore, it is very important to focus on this area to make manure management systems sustainable. In this study, greenhouse gas emissions that may occur in the provinces located in the region called Turkey's Lakes Region were estimated using the data on the number of different species of animals published in 2016-2020. Evolution by years has been evaluated on a provincial basis. The global warming potential created by greenhouse gas emissions has been determined. As an animal species in the study; dairy and beef cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, donkey-mule, meat and laying chicken, turkey, duck, and goose were used. 1567000 tons of CH4 emission has occurred due to the total enteric fermentation of animal origin. The amount of CH4 calculated based on manure management is 22450 tons. The CO2 equivalent amount of CH4 emission due to manure management and enteric fermentation was calculated as 33380500 tons. The total amount of direct and indirect N2O emissions from manure management in 2016-2020 is 12566.10 tons. CO2 emission originating from N2O emission was obtained as 555743.46 tons.