Manure application is not permitted on frozen land in Canada and therefore, manure management and storage are the primary issues facing the agri-food industry. Low-cost, effective and environmentally safe earthen manure storage (EMS) facilities will lower costs and help make the livestock industry more competitive and efficient. The goal of this study was to develop a biological sealing technology for earthen manure storages. The results showed that it is feasible to use a growing culture of Bacillus licheniformis to produce a non viscous water insoluble levan. Levan can only be produced by Bacillus licheniformis during the growth mode. No levan was produced during the death phase. About 0. 36 g of levan was produced per gram of sucrose which is 91. 1% of theoretical yield. The polymer can be used as a plugging agent to plug the pores of high permeability soils. From the biological and biochemical characteristics of the Bacillus licheniformis, it appears that the organism is capable of producing levan from sucrose under most field and soil conditions. As a soil organism, Bacillus licheniformis should be able to compete with most common soil species such as Arthrobacter and Bacillus. The bacteria could be grown either in the non-polysaccharide producing mode or in the polysaccharide producing mode. The first would permit distribution of the bacteria to the lower soil layers but would delay the production of the polysaccharide due to the lag period required to produce the enzyme (levansucrase). Upon production of levan, pore spaces would close and hence, the hydraulic conductivity would be substantially reduced.
A laboratory scale experiment was carried out to study the transformation and transport of nitrogenous compounds in soils receiving high application rates of cheese whey (twice the nitrogen requirement for crops). The experimental apparatus consists of 36 soil columns constructed of 20 cm inside diameter PVC pipes. Three types of soil (sandy loam, loam and sandy clay loam) and three soil depths (60, 120, 180 cm) were studied. The average monthly rainfall for the summer period in Halifax was used. The nitrogen in the soil was subject to biological transformations and downward movement in the soil. There were indications of the mineralization and nitrification processes taking place in the soil. The soil type and depth appeared to affect these processes. The ammonia volatilization occurred during the first 75 days with most (90 %) of the NH 3 loss taking place during the first 30 days. The amount of nitrogen losses to the air is about 3.41 kg/ha (0.59% of the total nitrogen). The amount of organic nitrogen lost in the leachates was 3.0-4.14 kg/ha (0.52-0.71% of the total nitrogen) whereas the amount of inorganic nitrogen (ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen) lost in the leachates was 18.63-24.09 kg/ha (3.54-4.56% of the total nitrogen). The presence of nitrite nitrogen in the leachate at high concentrations is a potential health hazard. Although cheese whey has been reported to have the potential to improve soil conditions, excess application has the potential of degrading soils and causing health problems. Additional research is, therefore, needed to better characterize the physical and chemical characteristics of soils receiving continuous high applications of cheese whey and their impact on crop yield and the qualities of groundwater and air.
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