Ammonia Volatilization from a Swine Waste Amended Bermudagrass Pasture

Case Study: On-Farm Evaluation of Liquid Dairy Manure Application Methods to Reduce Ammonia Losses

“…The greatest NH 3 concentrations were found during the first 48 h after manure application (Figure 2). This is similar to the results of Sullivan et al (2003), who reported that NH 3 volatilization rates from land-applied swine effluent peaked immediately after application and then rapidly declined to background emissions 4 to 6 d after treatment. Beauchamp et al (1982) also reported that NH 3 fluxes from land-applied liquid cattle manure were greatest during the first and second day and diminished during succeeding days.…”

“…Brunke et al (1988) reported that NH 3 flux from surface-applied manure declined rapidly over the period of 10 h and that incorporation of manure led to an 85 to 90% decrease in NH 3 losses. Sullivan et al (2003) showed that NH 3 losses after swine effluent application to bermudagrass pasture decreased steadily over a 5-d period, with 60% of the total NH 3 volatilization taking place within 4 d of application. Morken and Sakshaug (1998) reported a 62% decrease in NH 3 losses when manure slurry was directly injected into the ground vs. by surface broadcast application, and that the majority of losses occurred over the first 24-h period.…”

Simulated management effects on ammonia emissions from field applied manure

“…Generally producers aim to increase the soil pH to between 6 and 7. Ammonia volatilization is highly dependent on pH, with increasing emissions occurring at higher pH levels (Gé nermont and Cellier, 1997;Sommer et al, 2003;Sullivan et al, 2003). Most eastern Canada cropping systems require 2000-5000 kg of lime per ha every 3-5 years.…”

Effect of Anaerobic Digestion on Manure Characteristics for Phosphorus Precipitation from Swine Waste

“…A decrease in ammonia as a result of anaerobic digestion was expected; the digester was heated and stirred. Studies have shown that NH 3 volatilization in swine manure is affected by temperature, slurry composition, pH, and water content (Brunke et al, 1988;Sullivan et al, 2003); and, it has been observed that higher ammonical nitrogen concentrations result in high volatilization rates (Brunke et al, 1988). Organic nitrogen content was not determined, and due to the losses via volatilization the conversion of total nitrogen to ammonical nitrogen during the anaerobic digestion process was not defined.…”