Greenhouse gas emissions from beef cattle pen surfaces in North Dakota

Abstract

There is a global interest to quantify and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) (e.g. methane-CH4, nitrous oxide-N2O and carbon dioxide-CO2) emissions in animal feeding operations. The goal of this study was to quantify GHG emissions from the feedlot pen surface under North Dakota climatic conditions. In this study gaseous flux from the pen surfaces was generated using a custom-made wind tunnel at different times of the year (summer, fall, winter and spring). Gaseous fluxes (air samples) were drawn in the Tedlar bags using a vacuum chamber and gas concentrations were measured using a gas chromatograph within 24 h of sampling. The CH4 concentrations and flux rates (FRs) or flux among the months were not significantly different. Overall CH4, CO2 and N2O concentrations over a 7-month period were 2.66, 452 and 0.67 ppm, respectively. Estimated overall CH4, CO and N2O FRs were 1.32, 602 and 0.90 g m(-2) d(-1), respectively. Estimated emission rates using the wind tunnel were 38 g hd(-1) d(-1), 17 kg hd(-1) d(-1) and 26 g hd(-1) d(-1) for CH4, CO2 and N2O, respectively. The emission factors for GHG estimated in the research for North Dakota climate were the first of its kind, and these emission estimates can be used as a basis for planning and implementing management practices to minimize GHG emissions.

A Technique for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Exchange Adjacent Cattle Feedlots

“…Our N 2 O emission rates of 8.0 to 12.3 g animal −1 d −1 exceeded the reported the rate of 0.7 g animal −1 d −1 [17] and was less than the reported rate of 26 g animal −1 d −1 [18].…”

A Snapshot of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Cattle Feedlot

“…B eef cattle feedlots are a large source of greenhouse gases (GHG), which includes enteric methane (CH 4 ) emissions coming directly from the cattle (Mathison et al, 1998) and CH 4 and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emitted during manure decomposition (Rahman et al, 2013; Philippe and Nicks, 2015). In addition, feedlots are large sources of ammonia (NH 3 ), which when deposited to the surrounding landscape, will lead to N 2 O emissions (Denmead et al, 2008; Barrancos et al, 2013).…”

Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Open‐Lot Cattle Feedyards: A Review

“…Other studies (Rahman et al, 2013;Zhu et al, 2014) used different methods (GC coupled with inversion modeling and a custom wind tunnel, respectively) and found emission rates ranging from 17 to 38 g animal ; however, spatial variations ranged between 55 and 123%. In this study, the highest N 2 O fluxes occurred from recent urine spots.…”

“…Thorough manure characterization could improve understanding of the driving forces for feedyard N 2 O production and emission. Rahman et al (2013) used a portable wind tunnel at a North Dakota feedyard, where atmospheric N 2 O concentrations were highest in spring (March; 0.99 ppm N 2 O) and lowest in early summer ( June) and winter ( January; ~0.45 ppm N 2 O). Manure H 2 O content was proposed as the likely cause of this observation because drier conditions facilitated nitrification in spring.…”