Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #373331
Research Project: Improved Practices to Conserve Air Quality, Maintain Animal Productivity, and Enhance Use of Manure and Soil Nutrients of Cattle Production Systems for the Southern Great Plains

Location: Livestock Nutrient Management Research

Title: The effect of plant tannins on methane and nitrous oxide emissions from dairy manure under laboratory conditions

Author
item Min, Byeng Ryel
item Parker, David
item CASEY, KENNETH - Texas A&M Agrilife
item Willis, William - Will
item Castleberry, Bobbie - Lana
item Meyer, Beverly
item Robbe, Heather
item Waldrip, Heidi

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2020
Publication Date: 7/23/2020
Citation: Min, B., Parker, D.B., Casey, K., Willis, W.M., Castleberry, B., Meyer, B.E., Robbe, H.A., Waldrip, H. 2020. The effect of plant tannins on methane and nitrous oxide emissions from dairy manure under laboratory conditions [abstract]. 2020 ASAS-CSAS-WSASAS Virtual Annual Meeting and Trade Show. Paper No. PSXI-25.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from dairy cattle manure contribute to global climate change. The aim of this study was to assess the associative effects of three different levels [0, 4 and 8 percent wet weight (WW) basis] of condensed tannins (CT; quebracho tannins) and hydrolysable tannins (HT; chestnut tannins) on methane and nitrous oxide emissions. The dairy manure consisted of a 50:50 volume mixture of fresh feces and dry manure scraped from the surface of an open-lot dairy in the Texas panhandle. Control (0 percent tannin), 4 percent and 8 percent of CT or HT (w/w) were added to each bucket and homogenized with a hand mixer for 5 min. Aliquots of 220 g (WW) manure, with or without tannins, were placed into 1 L fermentation bottles (n=3, total of 18 bottles) and incubated at 39 degrees C for 14 days. A second set of 18 fermenters were set up in the same manner for sample collection at 0, 2, 3, 6, and 9 h to discern changes in pH and redox status. There were no differences in redox values with the addition of either tannin type to in vitro fermenters, however, application of CT to dairy manure reduced (P<0.05-0.01) cumulative methane emissions by 68 to 63 percent at the concentrations of 4 and 8 percent WW, respectively, compared with the non-tannin control group. Both CT and HT decreased cumulative nitrous oxide emissions (P<0.02). Examination of the emission kinetics revealed a tradeoff (interchange or pollution swapping) between methane and nitrous oxide emissions when tannins were applied to manure. These results suggested that the inclusion of 4 percent CT (WW) is a promising technique for reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions from excreted dairy manure. Further study is warranted to investigate the effects of feeding CT and HT on manure derived GHG in dairy systems.