ARS | Publication request: Determinants and processes of manure nitrogen availability

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: October 10, 2010
Publication Date: August 8, 2011
Citation: Honeycutt, C.W., Hunt, J.F., Griffin, T.S., He, Z., Larkin, R.P. 2011. Determinants and processes of manure nitrogen availability. In: He, Z., editor. Environmental Chemistry of Animal Manure. New York, NY: Science Publishers. p.201-224.

Technical Abstract: Increased animal production to feed a growing human population, concomitant with increasing loss of farm land available for manure application, make it vitally important that practices be developed for optimizing nutrient recycling from manure to crops. To assist in reaching this goal, methods for measuring N turnover and availability from manure are fairly well established. However, complexity of the many transformation processes such as mineralization, immobilization, nitrification, denitrification, and ammonia volatilization; along with the modifying and interacting impacts of soil physical, chemical, and biological properties; animal species and diets; manure storage and handling techniques; and climatic variables; combine to present significant challenges for developing cost-effective and environmentally sound manure N management and utilization practices. Only with a thorough understanding of the independent and interactive components and drivers of N availability will we be able to reach this goal. This chapter is offered as a summary of recent research contributing to our current state of knowledge in this important area.