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Ammonia, Total Reduced Sulfides, and Greenhouse Gases of Pine Chip and Corn Stover Bedding Packs
Author(s) -
Spiehs Mindy J.,
BrownBrandl Tami M.,
Parker David B.,
Miller Daniel N.,
Berry Elaine D.,
Wells James E.
Publication year - 2016
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/jeq2015.09.0466
Subject(s) - bedding , corn stover , manure , carbon dioxide , chemistry , ammonia , zoology , stover , greenhouse gas , environmental science , environmental chemistry , pulp and paper industry , agronomy , horticulture , crop , ecology , fermentation , food science , biology , organic chemistry , engineering
Bedding materials may affect air quality in livestock facilities. Our objective in this study was to compare headspace concentrations of ammonia (NH 3 ), total reduced sulfides (TRS), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) when pine wood chips ( Pinus spp.) and corn stover ( Zea mays L.) were mixed in various ratios (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, and 100% pine chips) and used as bedding with manure. Air samples were collected from the headspace of laboratory‐scaled bedded manure packs weekly for 42 d. Ammonia concentrations were highest for bedded packs containing 0, 10, and 20% pine chips (equivalent to 501.7, 502.3, and 502.3 mg m −3 , respectively) in the bedding mixture and were lowest when at least 80% pine chips were used as bedding (447.3 and 431.0 mg m −3 , respectively for 80 and 100% pine chip bedding). The highest NH 3 concentrations were observed at Day 28. The highest concentration of TRS was observed when 100% pine chips were used as bedding (11.4 µg m −3 ), with high concentrations occurring between Days 7 and 14, and again at Day 35. Greenhouse gases were largely unaffected by bedding material but CH 4 and CO 2 concentrations increased as the bedded packs aged and N 2 O concentrations were highly variable throughout the incubation. We conclude that a mixture of bedding material that contains 30 to 40% pine chips may be the ideal combination to reduce both NH 3 and TRS emissions. All gas concentrations increased as the bedded packs aged, suggesting that frequent cleaning of facilities would improve air quality in the barn, regardless of bedding materials used. Core Ideas Producers can use bedding material to help reduce gas emissions from livestock facilities. Ammonia concentrations were highest when bedding contained 20% or less pine chips. Total reduced sulfides were highest when 100% pine chips were used in the bedding mixture. Greenhouse gases were largely unaffected by including pine chips in bedding mixtures. Bedding materials of 30–40% pine and 60–70% corn may be ideal to reduce gas emissions.