MANAGING AMMONIA EMISSIONS FROM DAIRY COWS BY AMENDING SLURRY WITH ALUM OR
ZEOLITE OR BY DIET MODIFICATION
Author(s):
MEISINGER JOHN J
LEFCOURT ALAN M
VAN KESSEL JO ANN S
WILKERSON VICTOR
Interpretive Summary:
Animal agriculture is a significant source of atmospheric ammonia. Ammonia
volatilization represents a loss of plant available nitrogen to the farmer and
a potential contributor to eutrophication in low-nitrogen input ecosystems.
This research evaluated on-farm slurry treatments of alum or zeolite and
compared three diets for lactating dairy cows for their effectiveness in
reducing ammonia emissions. Ammonia emissions were compared using a group of
small wind tunnels which captured the ammonia emitted from the exposed manure
receiving various treatments. The addition of 2.5% alum or 6.25% zeolite to raw
dairy slurry reduced ammonia volatilization by 60% and 55%, respectively,
compared to untreated slurry. The alum conserved ammonia by acidifying the
slurry while the zeolite conserved ammonia by lowering the solution-phase
nitrogen through cation exchange. The use of alum or zeolite also reduced
soluble phosphorus in the slurry. Ammonia loss from manure collected from
lactating dairy cows was not affected by three diets containing the same level
of crude protein but differing in forage source (orchardgrass silage vs.
alfalfa silage) or neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content (30 vs. 35% NDF).
Ammonia losses from the freshly excreted manures occurred very rapidly and
included the excreted urea plus some unidentified labile organic nitrogen
sources. Ammonia conservation strategies for manures will have to be active
within the first few hours after excretion in order to be most effective. The
use of alum or zeolites as an on-farm amendment to dairy slurry offers the
potential for significantly reducing ammonia emissions from the storage phase
of a manure management system.
Keywords:
manure species systems samples bioavailability biological feedstuff
Approved Date: 2001-07-30
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TEKTRAN
United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
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