Transport of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Disease Organisms from Manure into Surface and Groundwater.

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 1996 | No Comments

This chapter, the factors that can have an impact on water quality are reviewed particularly for contamination of ground and surface water by nitrate, phosphorus and disease organisms. The focus is made on potential contamination as a result of manure application on land. The first step is to present the unbalanced nutrients ratio N:P:K of the swine and dairy manure (2:1:1,5 and 4:1:3 respectively) compared to the need of heavy yielding corn (7:1:7) for example. This would suggest not to use N as the limiting factor but rather to use P and supplement for the other nutrients. However the availability of nutrients is difficult to assess particularly for N as many losses can occur depending on the climatic conditions and also on the spreading method as NH3 can be emitted directly as gas, nitrification can occur and nitrate can be lost by leaching and denitrification can also occur resulting in N2O and N2 as gaseous emissions. N deposition can also come from the atmosphere, quantity which is difficult to evaluate. The survival of different pathogenic bacteria depends on different factors for example: soil pH, soil water and organic matter contents, soil texture, temperature and others. It is thus difficult to predict the bacteria becoming as a general trend. The transport of the contaminant is dependent of their concentration in the soil and also on the water flow available to move them. The application rate of the manure and also the number of years of repeated manure applications have a direct effect on the nitrate potentially available for leaching. So the higher are the rates and the more years the manure is applied, the higher are the risks for leaching contaminants in water. Manure spreading the closer to the crop growing period lower also the risk for nitrate leaching. Injection rather than surface application lower the risk of leaching. Some paths are given for further research particularly on the availability of nitrogen and other nutrients in the manure, the transport of those nutrients that can become contaminants under certain circumstances and the more information on disease organisms and the factors affecting their transport.

Many elements are presented in this review. Some conclusions can be drawn from this information and they are that specific factors increase the risks for leaching of contaminants and degradation of water quality and they are: high application rate; application done a long time before the growing season; manure applied directly on soil rather than injected particularly during rainy periods.

The evaluation of dehulled canola meal in the diets of growing and finishing pigs

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The major restriction to the expanded use of canola meal in swine diets is its low level of energy digestibility. There are many approaches that one might take to replace at least half of the soybean meal in their diet. In this two-phase experiment (growing phase, 24-56 kg; finishing phase, 71 a

Influence of maternal experiences on pig behaviour.

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Rearing pigs in species-specific family groups.

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Radiant Heating vs. Floor Heating

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The article looks at a barn trial comparing the heating costs of infrared radiant tubes versus hot water floor tubes combined with forced air gas. Air is heated by an ATL 60,000 BTUH unvented forced air gas unit heater and a central Slant Fin 140,000 BTUH gas fired hot water broiler is used to heat the water being piped to each nursery. Radiant tube heating is much cheaper, controls humidity and requires litte maintenance. There is more even heat throughout the room and thus the producer gets more for each energy dollar spent. Tube type gas fired infrared heating radiates reflected heat to the objects in the room. It does not heat the air, it heats the pigs. The trial found a 48% difference between the systems. Radiant tube heat has better utilization of energy than the broiler for hot water and the forced air gas.

An investigation of the effect of environmental enrichment and space allowance on the behaviour and production of growing pigs.

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Emissions de methane au cours du stockage des dejections animales

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The article and abstract are in french.
Methane is considered as one of the principal greenhouse gas. Among the potential methane sources coming from agriculture, the emissions resulting of anaerobic manure fermentation during storage can be considered as a specific source. Laboratory measurements were done to determine the carbon emissions (CH4, CO2) from stored swine manure. Two trials of 50 days each were realized on manure stored in a laboratory reactor and measurements were done using infra-red gas absorption technique. Direct measurements were compared to indirect evaluation by measurements of the diminution of the C concentration in the manure.Different ventilation regimes over the manure resulted in different levels of C losses that could reach 12,5% of the initial C content over the trial period compared to 5% for closed reactor. Different manure were tested to verify the variation in their C losses. The higher C losses were mesured for the raw manure with 18,9% and strained manure with 18,8%, lower C losses were observed with aerated manure. Of those C losses in the case of raw manure and strained manure the portion of CH4 of those losses was 60 % compred to 6% for the aerated manure. Slightly higher values for the C losses were obtained with the indirect measures with 20,8%, 23,4% and 5,1% respectively.

10 Steps to Complete a Nutrient Management Plan for Livestock & Poultry Manure.

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As plant nutrient are essential to assure a field productivity both manure and chemical fertilizers have to be used. Appropriate application rates and also time for application are important parameters to determine in order to obtain optimum crop yields with optimum nutrient quantities. Nutrient management is thus essential to assure optimal recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium by the crop while optimizing economic benefit and minimizing the impact on environment. 10 steps are given in order to achieve a good management plan and they are: 1. manure analysis; 2. soil analysis; 3. consideration of the nitrogen stocked in the soil from previous manure spreading or legume crops; 4. selection of proper spreading technique and time for the operations; 5. determination of application rates for specific fields; 6. selection of the supplemental fertilizers needed; 7. calibration of the spreader; 8. consideration of control measures to prevent erosion, surface runoff and tile drainage contamination; 9. handling and valorization of all the manure produced on the farm; 10. review of your nutrient management plan every years.
This factsheet provides useful information on manure management plan. The basics are given to understand the procedures. However the integration process between the manure analysis and the soil analysis is not presented and requires some knowledge and skill to be realized well and determine the application rates needed with the manure and with supplemental fertilizers.

Judicious Management of Swine Manure for Crop Production.

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As animal density has increased considerably in some regions in Quebec, surplus in animal excretion has been experienced for farms while considering nitrogen and phosphorus requirements estimated for crop production. Water quality problems (by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, high nitrogen and phosphorus contents) can result from high application rates of manure as the climate in Quebec is humid and water infiltration and runoff are frequent in the fall and the spring. Soils enrichment with copper and zinc can also cause problems as in a region of high production density, copper content varying from 1 to 12 mg/L has been measured in the water (Boyer River watershed) and the standard for drinking water is 1 mg/L. Even if the pig manure doesn’t provide much organic matter, the soil structure can be improved by an important microbial activity, using the carbon input from manure. Spring manure application and later fall application are the best time in order to optimize nutrients use by the crop and also limit the nutrient losses through runoff and leaching. As the fertilizing value of the manure is almost equivalent to mineral fertilizers value, manure is valuable and should be used optimally in order to limit the environmental impacts and odour nuisance associated with applying.
This article presents well the situation in Quebec associated with excessive manure application that has been done in some regions. Appropriate management of manure in crop production is the way of valorize manure.

The Evaluation of Dehulled Canola Meal as a Replacement for Soybean Meal in the Diets of Growing and Finishing Pigs

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