Gaseous Nitrogen Emissions and Forage Nitrogen Uptake on Soils Fertilized with Raw and Treated Swine Manure

Abstract

Treatments to reduce solids content in liquid manure have been developed, but little information is available on gaseous N emissions and plant N uptake after application of treated liquid swine manure (LSM). We measured crop yield, N uptake, and NH3 and N2O losses after the application of mineral fertilizer (NH4 NO3), raw LSM, and LSM that was decanted, filtered, anaerobically digested, or chemically flocculated. The experiment was conducted from 2001 to 2003 on a loam and a sandy loam cropped to timothy (Phleum pratense L.) with annual applications equivalent to 80 kg N ha(-1) in spring and 60 kg N ha(-1) after the first harvest. Raw LSM resulted in NH3 emissions three to six times larger (P < 0.05) than mineral fertilizer. The LSM treatments reduced NH3 emissions by an average of 25% compared with raw LSM (P < 0.05). The N2O emissions tended to be higher with raw LSM than with mineral fertilizer. The LSM treatments had little effect on N2O emissions, except for anaerobic digestion, which reduced emissions by >50% compared with raw LSM (P < 0.05). Forage yield with raw LSM was >90% of that with mineral fertilizer. The LSM treatments tended to increase forage yield and N uptake relative to raw LSM. We conclude that treated or untreated LSM offers an alternative to mineral fertilizers for forage grass production but care must be taken to minimize NH3 volatilization. Removing solids from LSM by mechanical, chemical, and biological means reduced NH3 losses from LSM applied to perennial grass.

Effects of anaerobic digestion on soil carbon and nitrogen turnover, N emissions, and soil biological activity. A review

“…In a relatively dry or inactive soil, an increase of the N 2 O fluxes can be expected by a slurry treatment such as anaerobic digestion, whereas a net decrease would result if the treated manure is applied to a soil where conditions are already conducive to denitrification, leading to an enhanced N 2 O reduction to N 2 , and thus to a higher N 2 /N 2 O ratio. Furthermore, some of the results published indicate an interaction of the effects of anaerobic digestion with other soil properties (Chantigny et al 2007;Eickenscheidt et al 2014). The soil type seems to influence the effects of manure treatments, as in a loamy soil, the reduction was significantly stronger than in a sandy soil (Chantigny et al 2007), probably due to differences in soil water and aeration status and the related effects on the redox potential in the soil.…”

“…Furthermore, some of the results published indicate an interaction of the effects of anaerobic digestion with other soil properties (Chantigny et al 2007;Eickenscheidt et al 2014). The soil type seems to influence the effects of manure treatments, as in a loamy soil, the reduction was significantly stronger than in a sandy soil (Chantigny et al 2007), probably due to differences in soil water and aeration status and the related effects on the redox potential in the soil. The soil organic matter content influences also the effects of manure treatments, N 2 O emissions increase with increasing soil C org content probably due to more favorable conditions for denitrification (Chantigny et al 2010;Pelster et al 2012;Eickenscheidt et al 2014).…”

“…Bertora et al (2008) compared the combined effects of anaerobic digestion and separation on N 2 O emissions; they measured lower N 2 O emissions from a loamy soil treated with either liquid or solid portions of treated pig slurry compared to the raw pig slurry. Chantigny et al (2007Chantigny et al ( , 2010 used the liquid fraction of treated pig slurry and measured similar or lower field N 2 O emissions from the treated slurry fractions compared with the raw pig slurry. The results of these studies do not allow an assessment of the effects of each of the single treatment steps on soil N 2 O emissions, as the difference to the control treatment comprises two sub-treatments, anaerobic digestion, and subsequent separation.…”

Environmentally Sustainable Biogas? The Key Role of Manure Co-Digestion with Energy Crops

“…No credits for mineral fertiliser replacement are given to the digestate because the fertilizing properties of digestate and raw manure are considered equivalent in the long term [39][40][41]. Fertiliser credits are not given to energy crops systems as the digestate produced is recycled in the same fields where the crops are grown, and the reduced need for mineral fertiliser is already accounted for.…”

Aerobic and Anaerobic Transformations in Estrogens and Nutrients in Swine Manure: Environmental Consequences

“…The present study also showed that NO2 − via bacterial thermophilic anaerobic deamination that also yields corresponding fatty acid [40,58]. In field applications, however, contradictory results regarding the effects of anaerobic digestion on NH3 volatilization has been revealed: a decrease, an increase and no change have all been reported [59][60][61][62][63][64][65]. This may be due to differences in experimental design, soil composition and influx nitrogen composition.…”