Ammonia emissions and emission factors of naturally ventilated dairy housing with solid floors and an outdoor exercise area in Switzerland

From an agricultural and environmental policy perspective there is a pressing need for up-to-date emission data on ammonia (NH3) from dairy farming. The main aim of this study was to determine NH3 emissions for the most common dairy farming situation in Switzerland of loose housing with an outdoor exercise area. Measurements were taken on six commercial farms, in naturally ventilated cubicle loose housing systems with solid floors and an outdoor exercise area located alongside the housing. The variation in climate over the course of a year was covered by a total of twelve measuring periods, in two out of three seasons (summer, transition period, winter) per farm. A tracer ratio method with two tracer gases (SF6, SF5CF3) was employed to determine emissions from two areas of different source intensity. A variety of accompanying parameters was used to characterise each measuring situation and to derive the relevant influencing variables. The daily average NH3 emission across all farms varied from 31 to 67 g LU−1 d−1 in summer, from 16 to 44 g LU−1 d−1 in the transition period, and from 6 to 23 g LU−1 d−1 in winter (1 LU = 500 kg live weight). From a linear mixed-effects model the wind speed in the housing (p < 0.001) and the interaction of outside temperature and the urea content of the tank milk (p < 0.001) emerged as significant variables influencing NH3 emission. A model-based calculation with bootstrapped variance components was used to calculate yearly averaged emission factors for two mountain and plain regions and two wind speeds (0.3 and 0.5 m s−1). The model input was based on milk urea contents from commercial dairy farms and air temperatures over a five-year period. The calculated NH3 emission factors, which thus accounted for regional differences due to climatic conditions and feeding levels, ranged between 22 and 25 g LU−1 d−1.

[1]  M. Meier,et al.  Measurement of ammonia emissions using various techniques in a comparative tunnel study , 2004 .

[2]  K. Lassey,et al.  Methane emission from sheep grazing four pastures in late summer in New Zealand , 2005 .

[3]  S. Burgos,et al.  Prediction of ammonia emission from dairy cattle manure based on milk urea nitrogen: relation of milk urea nitrogen to ammonia emissions. , 2010, Journal of dairy science.

[4]  Luc Thévenaz,et al.  Ammonia monitoring at trace level using photoacoustic spectroscopy in industrial and environmental applications. , 2004, Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy.

[5]  Baoming Li,et al.  Emission of Ammonia and Other Contaminant Gases from Naturally Ventilated Dairy Cattle Buildings , 2005 .

[6]  Eberhard Hartung,et al.  Measurement of ammonia emissions in naturally ventilated cattle housings with an exercise yard: selection of relevant accompanying parameters. , 2008 .

[7]  Hurley,et al.  A potent greenhouse gas identified in the atmosphere: SF(5)CF(3) , 2000, Science.

[8]  C. R. Braam,et al.  Grooved floor system for cattle housing: ammonia emission reduction and good slip resistance , 2001 .

[9]  D. Griffith,et al.  Methane emissions from free-ranging cattle: comparison of tracer and integrated horizontal flux techniques. , 2008, Journal of environmental quality.

[10]  Theo Demmers,et al.  First experiences with methods to measure ammonia emissions from naturally ventilated cattle buildings in the U.K. , 1998 .

[11]  T. Misselbrook,et al.  Ammonia emissions from outdoor concrete yards used by livestock- : quantification and mitigation , 2006 .

[12]  J. Hartung,et al.  Concentrations and emissions of ammonia in livestock buildings in Northern Europe , 1998 .

[13]  V. R. Phillips,et al.  Measuring ammonia emission rates from livestock buildings and manure stores—part 2: Comparative demonstrations of three methods on the farm , 2004 .

[14]  M. Smits,et al.  Effect of rumen-degradable protein balance and forage type on bulk milk urea concentration and emission of ammonia from dairy cow houses. , 2005, Journal of dairy science.

[15]  E. M. Barber,et al.  A dynamic model of ammonia emission from urine puddles , 2008 .

[16]  V. R. Phillips,et al.  Summer emissions of ammonia from a slurry-based, UK, dairy cow house , 1998 .

[17]  Michael Erich Zähner Beurteilung von Minimalställen für Milchvieh anhand ethologischer und physiologischer Parameter , 2001 .

[18]  J. Dijkstra,et al.  Milk urea concentration as an indicator of ammonia emission from dairy cow barn under restricted grazing. , 2011, Journal of dairy science.

[19]  V. R. Phillips,et al.  Measuring ammonia emission rates from livestock buildings and manure stores—part 1: development and validation of external tracer ratio, internal tracer ratio and passive flux sampling methods , 2004 .

[20]  J. Webb,et al.  Algorithms determining ammonia emission from buildings housing cattle and pigs and from manure stores , 2006 .

[21]  D. Chadwick,et al.  Ammonia emissions from naturally ventilated dairy cattle buildings and outdoor concrete yards in Portugal , 2010 .

[22]  J. Ledwell,et al.  Use of SF5CF3 for ocean tracer release experiments , 2008 .

[23]  Theo Demmers,et al.  SE—Structure and Environment: Validation of Ventilation Rate Measurement Methods and the Ammonia Emission from Naturally Ventilated Dairy and Beef Buildings in the United Kingdom , 2001 .

[24]  Fabrice Béline,et al.  Monitoring GHG from manure stores on organic and conventional dairy farms , 2006 .

[25]  H. F. A. van den Weghe,et al.  Ventilation Rates and Gaseous Emissions from Naturally Ventilated Dairy Houses , 2003 .

[26]  Naar een jaarrond-emissie van ammoniak uit melkveestallen , 2001 .

[27]  L. L. Christianson,et al.  Mass Transfer Coefficient of Ammonia in Liquid Swine Manure and Aqueous Solutions , 1999 .

[28]  I. Levin,et al.  A new tracer experiment to estimate the methane emissions from a dairy cow shed using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) , 1996 .