Whole-Farm Strategy to Reduce Environmental Impacts of Nitrogen

• Published in: Journal of environmental quality Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 186 - 195
• Main Authors: Sonneveld, M.P.W, Schroder, J.J, Vos, J.A. de, Monteny, G.J, Mosquera, J, Hol, J.M.G, Lantinga, E.A, Verhoeven, F.P.M, Bouma, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madison American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society 01.01.2008; American Society of Agronomy
• Subjects: Agriculture; Air Pollutants - analysis; air pollution; Alternative farming; Ammonia; Ammonia - analysis; ammonia emissions; Animal Husbandry; animal manure management; Animal manures; Animals; Cattle; Commercial farms; dairy farm management; Dairy farms; dairy manure; Dairying; Emission standards; Emissions; Environment; Environmental impact; Environmental Pollution - prevention & control; estimation; Farm buildings; Farm management; Farmers; Female; gas emissions; greenhouse gases; Groundwater; groundwater contamination; Housing, Animal; losses; low protein diet; Male; Manure - analysis; Methane - analysis; netherlands; Nitrate content; nitrates; Nitrates - analysis; Nitrites - analysis; Nitrogen; Nitrogen - analysis; Nitrous Oxide - analysis; peat soil; Phosphates - analysis; Phosphorus - analysis; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - analysis; Sheep; Slurries; slurry; Soils; summer; Surface water; Surface-groundwater relations; Systems analysis; Tax exemptions; Ventilation; volatilization; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; water pollution; Water quality; Water Supply - analysis; Netherlands
• ISSN: 0047-2425; 1537-2537; 1537-2537
• DOI: 10.2134/jeq2006.0434

Dutch regulations for ammonia emission require farmers to inject slurry into the soil (shallow) or to apply it in narrow bands at the surface. For one commercial dairy farm in the Netherlands it was hypothesized that its alternative farming strategy, including low-protein feeding and surface spreading, could be an equally effective tool for ammonia emission abatement. The overall objective of the research was to investigate how management at this farm is related to nitrogen (N) losses to the environment, including groundwater and surface water. Gaseous emission of ammonia and greenhouse gasses from the naturally ventilated stables were 8.1 and 3.1 kg yr-1 AU-1 on average using the internal tracer (SF6)-ratio method. Measurements on volatilization of ammonia from slurry application to the field using an integrated horizontal flux method and the micrometeorological mass balance method yielded relatively low values of ammonia emissions per ha (3.5-10.9 kg NH3-N ha-1). The mean nitrate concentration in the upper ground water was 6.7 mg L-1 for 2004 and 3.0 mg L-1 for 2005, and the half-year summer means of N in surface water were 2.3 mg N L-1 and 3.4 mg N L-1 for 2004 and 2005, respectively. Using a nutrient budget model for this farm, partly based on these findings, it was found that the calculated ammonia loss per ton milk (range 5.3-7.5 kg N Mg-1) is comparable with the estimated ammonia loss of a conventional farm that applies animal slurry using prescribed technologies.