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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #404815
Research Project: Strategies to Manage Feed Nutrients, Reduce Gas Emissions, and Promote Soil Health for Beef and Dairy Cattle Production Systems of the Southern Great Plains

Location: Livestock Nutrient Management Research

Title: The effect of water application on ammonia emissions from open-lot livestock-feeding surfaces

Author
item LEE, MYEONGSEONG - Texas A&M University
item BRANDANI, CAROLINA - Texas A&M University
item BUSH, JACK - Texas A&M University
item FERGUSON, GREG - Texas A&M University
item Willis, William - Will
item Thompson, Terra
item GOUVEA, VINICIUS - Texas A&M University
item CASEY, KENNETH - Texas A&M University
item PARKER, DAVID - West Texas A & M University
item Koziel, Jacek
item Brauer, David
item AUVERMANN, BRENT - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/2023
Publication Date: 7/9/2023
Citation: Lee, M., Brandani, C.B., Bush, J.J., Ferguson, G.B., Willis, W.M., Thompson, T.N., Gouvea, V., Casey, K.D., Parker, D.B., Koziel, J.A., Brauer, D.K., Auvermann, B.W. 2023. The effect of water application on ammonia emissions from open-lot livestock-feeding surfaces. In: 2023 ASABE Annual International Meeting, July 7-9, 2023, Omaha, Nebraska. p. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.13031/aim.223011050.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13031/aim.223011050

Interpretive Summary: In the western United States and Great Plains, fugitive dust from the pen surfaces of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) is a persistent challenge, mitigation of which often involves direct water application to pen surfaces. Team of scientists and engineers from Texas A&M AgriLife Research, USDA-ARS-Bushland, and West Texas A&M University found that water application significantly increased ammonia (NH3) emissions from the simulated arid open-lot beef-cattle pen surface. The results show that unwanted increase of air pollution can occur after water application. This research is an important addition to evaluation of practical “best management practices” (BMPs) to holistically reduce dust and gaseous emissions from open-lot facilities.

Technical Abstract: In the western United States and Great Plains, fugitive dust from the pen surfaces of open-lot livestock operations is a persistent challenge, mitigation of which often involves direct water application to pen surfaces via solid-set sprinklers or water trucks. Several studies have asserted that water application mitigates the emission of gaseous ammonia as an ancillary benefit. However, there is still a concern that it may cause more ammonia volatilization in the long term by increasing the microbially mediated production of aqueous ammonia within the water-filled pore space of the manure on the pen surface. We used a controlled, in vitro experiment to quantify the effect of water application on the flux and duration of ammonia emission from a simulated open-lot surface. After water application, about 9% more cumulative NH3 flux was emitted than the control group. Our experiment result indicates water application significantly increased NH3 emissions from the arid surface of beef cattle manure. The results of this experiment will help beef, dairy, sheep, and goat producers evaluate whether water application is a practical “best management practice” (BMP) to reduce particle- and/or gas-phase fugitive emissions from their open-lot facilities.