Lantinga, E.A.

Shah, G.A.

Shah, G.M.

English

Name not available

Management strategies to reduce nitrogen losses from solid cattle manure

NARCIS 

Wageningen Yield 

Environmental, nutrient losses, impact of storage and spreading operations 
  
 
  
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE NITROGEN 
LOSSES FROM SOLID CATTLE MANURE 
 
Shah G. M*., Shah G. A. , Lantinga E. A. 
Biological Farming Systems Group, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University and Research 
Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, building 107, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands 
Phone: + 31 (0)317481192 Fax: +31 (0) 317481203 E-mail*: ghulamM.shah@wur.nl 
                                             
1 INTRODUCTION 
Application of livestock manure to land is important for plant nutrition but may cause agro-environmental problems 
if utilization is inefficient due to poor management. In the Netherlands, cattle are the main source (~ 60%) of 
livestock manure. Most of this manure is collected as slurry in cubicle barns, but the proportion of solid manure is 
increasing due to growing interest of farmers in switching back to straw-based housing systems for the reasons of 
animal health and welfare. After excretion in barns, cattle solid manure is either directly applied to the field or 
stored for an extended period of time prior to land spreading due to restricted periods of application. It is well 
known that up to 50% of the initial Ntotal can be lost during storage of solid cattle manure (Eghball et al., 1997). On 
the other hand, Huijsmans and Mosquera (2007) concluded that in the Netherlands NH3 emission after spreading of 
solid cattle manure to land can be up to 100% of the total ammoniacal N content. Contribution of these N losses 
from solid manure to the environment has become a major social and political concern in the Netherlands.  The aim 
of this study was to develop and evaluate some effective measures in reducing N losses from solid manure 
management in order to provide some practical guidelines to minimize N losses. 
 
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS 
2.1 Mass and nutrient losses during storage 
Fresh beef solid cattle manure was collected from the sloping floor barn of the organic experimental and training 
farm Droevendaal at Wageningen, the Netherlands, where straw was used as bedding material at a daily rate of 4-5 
kg per livestock unit (500 kg live weight). After chopping once with mechanical manure spreader, 12.5 Mg of fresh 
manure (not older than 1 week) for each treatment was put on a clean concrete floor in order to make conical heaps 
of about 1.5 meter (m) height with base diameter of 4 m. Manure was stored under three different conditions 
including (i) stockpiled heap, (ii) composted heap with infrequent turning and (iii) sheeted heap under impermeable 
plastic cover. The first two heaps were made in a roofed building to prevent leaching losses during rainfall. 
Temperature of the heaps was monitored regularly throughout the storage period using hand held probe. Air 
temperature and rainfall data were collected from the weather station located at < 1 kilometre from the study site.  
The experiment was conducted for 130 days from mid January till the end of the May 2009.  
During heap establishment and at the end of the storage period, three manure composite samples (2 kg 
fresh weight) from each heap were collected to estimate changes in mass and nutrient concentrations for the 
different storage treatments. Subsamples were analysed for dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), total-C, total-N, 
ammonium-N (NH4-N), nitrate-N (NO3-N), raw ash and pH. After storage, DM mass losses were estimated by 
assuming no loss of raw ash from the heaps during the storage period. Total C and N losses during storage were 
estimated by comparing their contents relative to the raw ash fraction before and after storage.  
 2.2 Ammonia emission after manure spreading 
Relative effect of irrigation in reducing NH3 emission from manure was estimated in early September (2009) using 
passive flux samplers (Kirchner et al., 1999). For this, fresh (directly from the barn) and composted (from the above 
storage experiment) solid cattle manures were manually spread at an application rate of 400 kg N ha-1 on cut 
grassland in circular plots with diameter of 3 m. Immediately after manure spreading, 5 mm of irrigation was 
applied to half of the manured plots. One control plot (without manure) out of two was also irrigated. Five passive 
flux samplers were installed vertically 20 cm above the soil surface in the middle of each plot. After 4 days of 
exposure, quantities of NH3-N (µg) entrapped in the samplers were measured in laboratory and subsequently 
concentrations of NH3 (µg/m3) in the air were calculated according to the protocol proposed by Hofschreuder and 
Environmental, nutrient losses, impact of storage and spreading operations 
  
 
  
Heeres (2002). Data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA in SPSS. Significant differences between the 
treatments were distinguished by the LSD test at 5% probability level. 
 
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION  
3.1 Mass and nutrient losses during storage 
Visual observations revealed that all the heaps had decreased in size noticeably after the storage period due to 
moisture and DM losses. About 55% and 48% of the initial DM was lost from composted and stockpiled heaps, 
respectively. In contrast, only 14% of DM was lost from the covered heap (Table 1). The higher DM losses were 
associated with aerobic decomposition enhanced by diffusion of air into the heaps through (i) straw (in stockpiled 
heap) and (ii) straw as well as turning (composted heap). Our results are in line with Larney et al. (2006) who 
reported DM mass losses of 58% from composted and 47% from stockpiled beef cattle manure from feed lots.  
 
TABLE 1 Chemical composition of solid cattle manure before and after storage. 
Raw ash  Total-C  Total-N  NH4-N  Organic-N   
DM 
(%) 
                        g/kg of DM      
 
DMloss 
(%) 
 
C/N 
 
pH(CaCl2) 
 
Before Storage 
 18.7 176 409 28.8 6.4 (22)  22.4  13 7.4 
After storage 
    (i)   Stockpiled  20.8 340 316 38.2 1.0 (3)  37.5    48 8 7.7 
    (ii)  Composted 21.5 390 304 34.3 5.1 (15)  29.3    55 8 8.1 
    (iii) Covered 18 205 397 30.1 9.5 (32)  20.6    14 12 7 
 
* Values in the parenthesis represent percentage ammoniacal fraction of the total-N. 
 
 After storage, approximately 16% of the initial Ctotal from covered, 60% from the stockpiled and 67% 
from the composted manure were lost during the storage period (Fig. 1). This could be attributed to greater 
decomposition of C during stockpiling and composting as reflected in their temperature dynamics. Temperature of 
the stockpiled and composted heaps increased up to 50-60 °C after establishment, declined thereafter and stabilized 
at the end of the storage period. In covered heaps, highest temperature (25 °C) was observed immediately after 
establishment. Afterwards, it declined gradually to ambient level. The lower temperature in the covered heap could 
be attributed to the anaerobic fermentation of organic material where less energy is released than during aerobic 
degradation, which restricts microbial activity and thus the decomposition of OM (Hansen et al., 2006). Therefore, 
loss of C during storage is reduced by covering the heap with impermeable plastic sheet. 
N losses were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the handling techniques and were lowest from the 
covered heap (~10 %). On the other hand, 35% and 46% of the total-N was lost from stockpiled and composted 
heaps, respectively (Fig. 1). At the end of the storage period, NH4-N concentration was lower in composted and 
especially in stockpiled compared to sheet covered manure, probably due to immobilization as well as combination 
of higher NH3 and denitrification losses during storage. Therefore, the percentage ammoniacal-N calculated as 
{(NH4-N + NO3-N)/total-N *100}, was significantly higher for the covered heap as compared to both stockpiled and 
composted heaps where proportion of organic-N was relatively higher (Table 1). Covering the manure heaps blocks 
air circulation, inhibits OM degradation, and lowers internal heat production as well as the pH, which ultimately 
reduces the NH3 emission. Further, the formation of nitrate/nitrite is prevented through anaerobic conditions and 
thus also the possibility of denitrification losses (Kirchmann, 1985). C/N ratio was decreased in stockpiled and 
composted manure and could be attributed to higher C losses compared to N as depicted in Fig. 1. 
 
Environmental, nutrient losses, impact of storage and spreading operations 
  
 
  
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Stockpiled Composted Covered
lo
ss
es
 
(%
 
o
f t
he
 
in
tia
l)
Nitrogen
Carbon
 
FIGURE1 C and N losses from solid cattle manure subjected to different storage conditions. 
 
3.2 Ammonia emission after manure spreading 
Land spreading of the manures significantly (P<0.05) increased the NH3 concentration of the air compared to the 
control plots. Without irrigation, NH3 emission levels from fresh and composted solid cattle manure were not 
significantly different (Fig. 2). This could be linked with application of almost equal amounts of inorganic-N in both 
manure types as calculated from their analysis reports (38 g and 42 g in fresh and composted manure, respectively). 
 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Control Fresh Composted
N
H
3  
co
n
ce
n
tr
at
io
n
 
(µg
/m
3 ) Without irrigation
With irrigation
 
FIGURE2 Ammonia concentration of the air following land spreading of solid cattle manures. 
 
 In case of fresh manure, 5 mm irrigation immediately after land spreading significantly reduced NH3 
emission by 30% compared to unirrigated manured plot (Fig. 2). The irrigation water dissolves the manure 
ammoniacal N and enhances its infiltration (i) into the inner side of the manure clumps where it might be 
safeguarded from exposure to external high temperature and wind, and (ii) into the soil where it can be protected 
against volatilization by adsorption onto the soil colloids. Nevertheless, this level of irrigation did not reduce NH3 
emission from composted solid cattle manure, in all probability due to its higher DM content (21.5%) compared to 
fresh solid cattle manure (18.7 %).  
 
4 CONCLUSIONS  
C and N losses during solid cattle manure storage can be reduced remarkably by covering the heaps with 
impermeable plastic sheet. In addition, covering the manure during storage increased ammoniacal-N content that 
may subsequently improve manure-N utilization after field application. Five millimetres of irrigation/rainfall 
immediately after fresh manure spreading significantly reduced NH3 emission. However, to develop effective 
Environmental, nutrient losses, impact of storage and spreading operations 
  
 
  
integrated strategies during storage and after application, investigation of NH3 emission and promising abatement 
techniques (i.e. irrigation) following spreading is also needed in case of sheet covered manure. The field trials were 
started in spring 2010 for these detailed enquiries. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  
The authors thank Wageningen University and Research Centre for providing technical support for this research 
work. We are also indebted to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan for funding the project. 
 
REFERENCES  
Eghball B, Power J F, Gilley J E, Doran J W 1997. Nutrient, carbon, and mass loss during composting of beef cattle 
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Hansen M N, Henriksen K, Sommer S G 2006. Observations of production and emission of greenhouse gases and 
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Huijsmans J F M, Mosquera J,  Hol J M G 2007. Ammonia emission during spreading of solid manure (in Dutch). 
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Ammonia emission during spreading of solid manure (in Dutch).

Field inter comparison of diffusive samplers for measuring ammonia.

Fresh, stockpiled, and composted beef cattle feedlot manure: nutrient levels and mass balance estimates in Alberta and Manitoba.

Losses, plant uptake and utilization of manure nitrogen during a production cycle.

Measurement of NH3 in ambient air using a modified palms diffusion tube. 3rd version of the protocol for the Interreg study. Meteorology and Air Quality Group,

Nutrient, carbon, and mass loss during composting of beef cattle feedlot manure.

Observations of production and emission of greenhouse gases and ammonia during storage of solids separated from pig slurry: Effects of covering.

Management strategies to reduce nitrogen losses from solid cattle manure

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