Ammonia, Total Reduced Sulfides, and Greenhouse Gases of Pine Chip and Corn Stover Bedding Packs
2016
Spiehs, Mindy J. | Brown-Brandl, Tami M. | Parker, David B. | Miller, Daniel N. | Berry, Elaine D. | Wells, James E.
Bedding materials may affect air quality in livestock facilities. Our objective in this study was to compare headspace concentrations of ammonia (NH₃), total reduced sulfides (TRS), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) when pine wood chips (Pinus spp.) and corn stover (Zea mays L.) were mixed in various ratios (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, and 100% pine chips) and used as bedding with manure. Air samples were collected from the headspace of laboratory-scaled bedded manure packs weekly for 42 d. Ammonia concentrations were highest for bedded packs containing 0, 10, and 20% pine chips (equivalent to 501.7, 502.3, and 502.3 mg m⁻³, respectively) in the bedding mixture and were lowest when at least 80% pine chips were used as bedding (447.3 and 431.0 mg m⁻³, respectively for 80 and 100% pine chip bedding). The highest NH₃ concentrations were observed at Day 28. The highest concentration of TRS was observed when 100% pine chips were used as bedding (11.4 µg m⁻³), with high concentrations occurring between Days 7 and 14, and again at Day 35. Greenhouse gases were largely unaffected by bedding material but CH₄ and CO₂ concentrations increased as the bedded packs aged and N₂O concentrations were highly variable throughout the incubation. We conclude that a mixture of bedding material that contains 30 to 40% pine chips may be the ideal combination to reduce both NH₃ and TRS emissions. All gas concentrations increased as the bedded packs aged, suggesting that frequent cleaning of facilities would improve air quality in the barn, regardless of bedding materials used.
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