Monthly NH₃ emissions from poultry in 12 Ecoregions of Canada

Abstract

, J. 2009. Monthly NH 3 emissions from poultry in 12 Ecoregions of Canada. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 89: 21Á35. Management of ammonia (NH 3 ) is a multi-faceted issue for farmers. It is simultaneously a toxicant that can affect farm-worker and animal health, a volatile plant nutrient that is expensive to replace if lost, and a potential contributor to environmental degradation. The environmental implications have important spatial and temporal dimensions, beyond the farm. This paper describes a model developed to estimate NH 3 emissions from poultry (broiler, layer and turkey) production in 2780 mapping units across Canada on a monthly time scale. It includes estimates of daily emission peaks within critical months. The results will contribute to estimates of haze and atmospheric aerosol production, as well as contributions to other potential impacts such as eutrophication of sensitive ecosystems. The model is based on a detailed survey of farm practices. Emissions vary strongly throughout the year, and in many regions there are peak emissions in early spring and late fall, associated with landspreading of manure. There are also markedly different nitrogen excretion rates among regions, and these and bird populations are the key factors controlling emissions. On average, 22% of excreted uric acid or ammoniacal N is emitted from barns, 2% from storage and 26% from landspreading, resulting in a total loss of 50%.

Farm practices survey and modelling to estimate monthly NH3 emissions from swine production in 12 Ecoregions of Canada

“…In fact, band-spreading and injection have limited use by the swine sector in Canada, 9 and 29%, respectively, as national averages. Thus, compared with swine under similar production systems in Western Europe and broilers in Canada (Sheppard et al 2009b), relatively more NH 3 was lost in the barn and less in the field, but the final fraction of excreted N that was emitted was nearly the same.…”

“…The general model specifications and formulation are the same as those described by Sheppard et al (2009b). The general equation was:…”

Monthly ammonia emissions from fertilizers in 12 Canadian Ecoregions

“…There remains a paucity of Canadian emission factors that correspond to current farm practices and fertilizer materials. This is also true of emissions from livestock [dealt with in other papers, see Sheppard et al (2009), with further papers in preparation]. Additionally, the flux of NH 3 to and from plants and plant residues is not well quantified, and must await a future revision of the model.…”

“…Using the calculation approach described in this paper, and already adopted in Lillyman and Buset (2008) and Eilers et al (2009), Canadian emissions from fertilizer are estimated to constitute 22% of total agricultural emissions, while the remainder is from the livestock industry. Sheppard et al (2009) and related papers describe the modeling of emissions from Canadian livestock.…”

Weekly agricultural emissions and ambient concentrations of ammonia: Validation of an emission inventory

“…Emission factors were based on those previously published in Canada; those for outdoor storages, unheated housing, and land application of manure and fertilizers were adjusted based on mean weekly temperatures (Fig. 2) using correction factors reported in the previous publications (Sheppard et al, 2009b(Sheppard et al, , 2010a. Emission fractions for land spreading of slurry were reduced by 7.1% for each day with over 9 mm of rain in each week of the study (maximum of 50% reduction), to account for the effect of frequent rainfall in the region on emissions (Fig.…”