With increased availability of dried distillers' grains with solubles (DDGS) as cattle feed and the need to recycle organic wastes, this research investigated the feasibility of co-composting DDGS cattle feedlot manure with construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Manure was collected from cattle fed a typical western Canadian finishing diet (CK) of 860 g rolled barley ( L.) grain, 100 g barley silage, and 40 g vitamin and mineral supplement kg dry matter (DM) and from cattle fed the same diet but (DG manure) with 300 g kg DM barley grain being replaced by DDGS. The CK and DG manures were co-composted with and without C&D waste in 13 m bins. Compost materials were turned on Days 14, 37, and 64, and terminated on Day 99. Adding C&D waste led to higher compost temperatures (0.4 to 16.3°C, average 7.2°C) than manure alone. Final composts had similar total C, total N, C/N ratios, and water-extractable K, Mg, and NO content across all treatments. However, adding C&D waste increased δC, δN, water-extractable SO, and Ca contents and decreased pH, total P (TP), water-extractable C, N, and P and most volatile fatty acids (VFA). The higher C&D compost temperatures should reduce pathogens while reduced VFA content should reduce odors. When using the final compost product, the increased SO and reduced TP and available N and P content in C&D waste compost should be taken into consideration. Increased S content in C&D compost may be beneficial for some crops grown on S-deficient soils.

The acid-ameliorating properties of feedlot cattle manure on barley and canola productivity in acid soils were evaluated from 2003 to 2007 at Fort Vermilion and Beaverlodge research stations in northern Alberta, Canada. Treatments included Control, NP fertilizer, Lime + NP fertilizer and manure at 80 (M80) and 160 (M160) Mg ha-1. Manure and lime were applied once in 2003 and NP fertilizer was applied annually. Manure significantly increased soil pH from around 4 to >5 and this increase persisted over the 4-yr period. At Fort Vermilion, M160 reduced soil 0.01 M CaCl2 extractable Al and Mn contents from 2.9 and 11.7 mg kg-1 (Control) to 1.1 and 8.9 mg kg-1 and barley straw Mn content from 313 (Control) to 220 mg kg-1. Soil P (Mehlich 3) and K (0.01 M CaCl2 extractable) contents in M160 were more than two times those in the Control, while values from fertilizer treatments were not different from the Control. Crop grain N, P and K uptakes and yields in M160 were twice those of the Control. In northern Alberta, manure application to acid soils at a rate of 160 Mg ha-1 once every 4 yr had the same effectiveness as Lime + NP fertilizer in increasing soil pH and improving soil fertility and crop productivity at the field scale.

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Abstract.With increasing production of bio-gas and availability of anaerobically digested cattle feedlot manure (ADM), we need a better understanding of the impact of its application on crop production and the environment. The objective of this study was to investigate nutrient and heavy metal uptake by barley forage from soil amended with ADM. A four-year field study was conducted in southern Alberta to compare annual application of ADM liquid (ADML), and the solid fraction separated from the ADM (ADMS) to raw undigested cattle feedlot manure (CFMR). An unamended control (CK) was also included for comparison. Treatments were replicated four times using a split plot experimental design. All amendments were applied in spring each year prior to seeding and barley was grown and harvested at the soft dough stage for making cattle silage feed. All amendments were applied at rates supplying 100 or 200 kg N ha-1 yr-1, assuming 100% mineral N and 50% organic N was available to crops in the year of application. Averaged over four years, the highest yields were found from ADML (9.55 and 9.6 Mg ha-1 yr-1), and lowest from CK (6.93 Mg ha-1 yr-1), with ADMS and CFMR (7.80 to 8.66 Mg ha-1) in between. Contents and total uptake of nutrients and heavy metals (N, P, Cu and Zn) by barley forage from ADML were higher than ADMS and CFMR. and higher at 200 kg N ha-1 yr-1 than 100 kg N ha-1yr-1. Our data suggest that anaerobic digestion increases nutrients and heavy metal availability in cattle feedlot manure, but most increases occurred in the liquid fraction. Our data also suggest that the impact of organic amendment application on forage barley production is not only affected by the types of amendment used, but also by agronomic practices (e.g., seeding date) as well as growing conditions.