title: Stratification of solids, nitrogen and phosphorus in swine manure in deep pits under slatted floors.
abstract: Manure slurries stored in pits under slatted floors of both finishing and nursery barns were sampled at four different depths to study stratifications of total solids (TS) and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and to determine the relationship between the stratification of TS and nutrients. The results obtained can be used to improve the management and handling of swine manure in the under-slat storage pits. A management scheme that can be adopted for both the finishing and the nursery barns' pits is the layer-by-layer harvesting of the manure. The thinner manure, which is lower in nutrients, can be spread on land near the production units in larger volumes or it may pumped to land remote from the production units without causing many clogging problems. The thicker manure, higher in nutrients, can be transported to land further away and spread in smaller volumes. The TS content of each stratum can be used to accurately estimate the nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the respective strata so that application rates can easily be adjusted accordingly during the time of land application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078, USA. ndegwa@okstate.edu
authors.forename: Pius M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ndegwa
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ancheng
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008372:Manure / Q000032:analysis*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D010316:Particle Size; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D008372:Manure; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen