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Greenhouse Gas Emissions during Co‐Composting of Calf Mortalities with Manure
Author(s) -
Xu Shanwei,
Hao Xiying,
Stanford Kim,
McAllister Tim A.,
Larney Francis J.,
Wang Jingguo
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2007.0080
Subject(s) - compost , manure , straw , greenhouse gas , environmental science , zoology , chicken manure , agronomy , fertilizer , chemistry , biology , ecology
Abstract Composting may be a viable on‐farm option for disposal of cattle carcasses. This study investigated greenhouse gas emissions during co‐composting of calf mortalities with manure. Windrows were constructed that contained manure + straw (control compost [CK]) or manure + straw + calf mortalities (CM) using two technologies: a tractor‐mounted front‐end loader or a shredder bucket. Composting lasted 289 d. The windrows were turned twice (on Days 72 and 190), using the same technology used in their creation. Turning technology had no effect on greenhouse gas emissions or the properties of the final compost. The CO 2 (75.2 g d −1 m −2 ), CH 4 (2.503 g d −1 m −2 ), and N 2 O (0.370 g d −1 m −2 ) emissions were higher ( p < 0.05) in CM than in CK (25.7, 0.094, and 0.076 g d −1 m −2 for CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O, respectively), which reflected differences in materials used to construct the compost windrows and therefore their total C and total N contents. The final CM compost had higher ( p < 0.05) total N, total C, and mineral N content (NO 3 − + NO 2 − + NH 4 + ) than did CK compost and therefore has greater agronomic value as a fertilizer.