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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 #284411
Title: Estimation of ammonia emissions from beef cattle feedyards in the southern high plains with process-based modeling

Author
item Waldrip, Heidi
item Todd, Richard
item Cole, Noel
item LI, CHANSHENG - University Of New Hampshire
item SALAS, WILLIAM - Applied Geosolutions, Llc

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/17/2012
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Ammonia (NH3) emissions from beef cattle feedyards represent N loss and can have negative environmental consequences. Models have been developed to estimate NH3 emissions from various livestock production systems; however, little work has been conducted to assess their accuracy for large open-lot feedyards. To validate Manure-DNDC, a process-based biogeochemical model, simulated NH3 flux was compared to emissions data collected from two commercial feedyards in the Texas High Plains. Model predictions were in good agreement with measured observations from both feedyards (p < 0.001), and reflected high sensitivity to variations in air temperature and dietary crude protein level. Predicted mean daily NH3 flux densities for the two feedyards were 43.6 and 55.7 kg NH3-N ha**1 d**1, and were not significantly different from observed data. This indicates that Manure-DNDC can assist with NH3 emissions reporting for commercial feedyards, and can be used to evaluate the effects of management practices on N loss.