In a storage experiment with dairy cow manure, the effects of dietary protein content and manure type on ammonia, nitrous oxide and methane volatilization as well as overall nitrogen (N) loss from manure were investigated. Early-lactating cows received rations with 175, 150 and 125 g crude protein\kg dry matter. Each ration was tested in four manure storage systems reflecting typical farm conditions. These either contained total excreta with high amounts of straw (deep litter manure) or no straw (slurry) or, proportionately, 0n9 of urine and 0n1 of faeces (urine-rich slurry) complemented by the residuals with a low amount of straw (farmyard manure). Manure samples were stored for 7 weeks under controlled conditions and trace gas emission was repeatedly measured. Reduction of N intake decreased daily N excretion and urine N proportion and, on average, led to 0n7-fold lower storage ammonia emission rates on average. Total storage N loss was simultaneously reduced with the extent depending on urine N proportion of the respective manures. A lower dietary protein content furthermore reduced nitrous oxide emission rates in most manure types but increased methane emission from urine-rich slurry ; however, global warming potential (based on trace gas output) of all manures was similar with low and high dietary protein content. In deep litter manure, characterized by the highest C : N ratio, emission rates of total N, ammonia and methane were lowest, whereas nitrous oxide values were intermediate. Substantial emission of nitrous oxide occurred with farmyard manure which also had the highest methane values and, consequently, by far the highest global warming potential. C : N ratio of manure was shown to be suitable to predict total N loss from manure during storage in all manure types whereas urine N proportion and manure pH were only of use with liquid manures.

The effects on N use and N volatilization from slurry were investigated in 24 early-lactation Brown Swiss cows (32 kg/d milk) fed four diets with 128, 124, 147 and 175 g/kg DM of crude protein (CP). All diets were supplemented with 0.75 g/kg of rumen-protected Met except for one of the low-protein rations (128 g/kg of CP). The unsupplemented low-protein ration was calculated to be deficient in Met by approximately 20%. No significant treatment effects on performance, water intake and excretion, and slurry quantities were observed. Differences in N intake were closely reflected in the daily excretions of total and urea N via urine, and in urine N as a proportion of total excretory N. These values were higher for the unsupplemented low-protein ration than for the Met-supplemented low-protein ration. The treatment effects on fecal N excretion were generally smaller, and milk N excretion and N balance were not affected. Feed N utilization for milk N excretion increased with decreasing CP content from 27% for the high-protein group to about 35% for the two low-protein groups. Comparing the Met supplemented rations only, ammonia N emission from fresh slurry (excreta:water = 1:0.5) decreased from 231 to 160 and 55 microg/s per square meter of surface with 175, 147 and 124 g/kg of CP, respectively, and the corresponding total N losses during 7 wk of slurry storage declined from 89 to 57 and 25 g/d per cow. Regression analysis demonstrated the basic suitability of milk urea N excretion to estimate urine N excretion and, consequently, potential N emissions.

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This study investigated the effects of supplementing 40 g lauric acid (C12) kg(-1) dry matter (DM) in feed on methane emissions from early-lactating dairy cows and the associated effects on methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia release from the manure during storage. Stearic acid (C18), a fatty acid without assumed methane-suppressing potential in the digestive tract of ruminants, was added at 40 g kg(-1) DM to a control diet. The complete feed consisted of forage and concentrate in a ratio of 1.5:1 (DM basis). The manure was stored for 14 weeks either as complete slurry or, separately, as urine-rich slurry and farmyard manure representing two common storage systems. Methane release of the cows, as measured in respiratory chambers, was lower with C12 by about 20%, but this was mostly resulting from a reduced feed intake and, partly, from a lower rate of fibre digestion. As milk yield declined less than feed intake, methane emission per kg of milk was significantly lower with C12 (11.4 g) than with C18 (14.0 g). Faeces of C12-fed cows had a higher proportion of undigested fibre and accordingly methane release from their manure was higher compared with the manure obtained from the C18-fed cows. Overall, manure-derived methane accounted for 8.2% and 15.4% of total methane after 7 and 14 weeks of storage, respectively. The evolution of methane widely differed between manure types and dietary treatments, with a retarded onset of release in complete slurry particularly in the C12 treatment. Emissions of nitrous oxide were lower in the manures from the C12 treatment. This partially compensated for the higher methane release from the C12 manure with respect to the greenhouse gas potential. The total greenhouse gas potential (cow and manure together) accounted for 8.7 and 10.5 kg equivalents of CO2 cow(-1) d(-1) with C12 and C18, respectively. At unaffected urine-N proportion ammonia and total nitrogen losses from stored manure were lower with C12 than with C18 corresponding to the differences in feed and nitrogen intake. The present results suggest that manure storage significantly contributes to total methane emission from dairy husbandry, and that the identification of effective dietary mitigation strategies has to consider both the digestive tract of the animals and the corresponding manure.

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