title: A new cost-effective method to mitigate ammonia loss from intensive cattle feedlots: application of lignite.
abstract: In open beef feedlot systems, more than 50% of dietary nitrogen (N) is lost as ammonia (NH3). Here we report an effective and economically-viable method to mitigate NH3 emissions by the application of lignite. We constructed two cattle pens (20 × 20 m) to determine the effectiveness of lignite in reducing NH3 emissions. Twenty-four steers were fed identical commercial rations in each pen. The treatment pen surface was dressed with 4.5 kg m(-2) lignite dry mass while no lignite was applied in the control pen. We measured volatilised NH3 concentrations using Ecotech EC9842 NH3 analysers in conjunction with a mass balance method to calculate NH3 fluxes. Application of lignite decreased NH3 loss from the pen by approximately 66%. The cumulative NH3 losses were 6.26 and 2.13 kg N head(-1) in the control and lignite treatment, respectively. In addition to the environmental benefits of reduced NH3 losses, the value of retained N nutrient in the lignite treated manure is more than $37 AUD head(-1) yr(-1), based on the current fertiliser cost and estimated cost of lignite application. We show that lignite application is a cost-effective method to reduce NH3 loss from cattle feedlots.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Deli
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Jianlei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Kithsiri B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Dassanayake
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Owen T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Denmead
authors.affiliation: Ternes Agricultural Consulting Pty Ltd, Upwey, Victoria 3158, Australia.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003031:Coal / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017753:Ecosystem; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008372:Manure / Q000032:analysis; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D008372:Manure; D000641:Ammonia; D009584:Nitrogen