Ammonia Emissions and Emission Factors: A Summary of Investigations at Beef Cattle Feedyards on the Southern High Plains
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Proceedings available at: http;//www.extension.org/67711 Ammonia volatilization is a major component of the nitrogen balance of a feedyard, and the effects of ammonia loss range from the economic (loss of manure fertilizer value) to the environmental (air quality degradation, overfertilization of ecosystems). Although not yet regulated, ammonia emissions from cattle are required to be reported under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. Emission factors are used to estimate ammonia emissions for purposes of reporting and national inventories, but current emission factors are based on limited data. Our objective was to definitively quantify ammonia emissions and emission factors from commercial feedyards on the southern High Plains of Texas.
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Ammonia Emissions and Emission Factors: A Summary of Investigations at Beef Cattle Feedyards on the Southern High Plains
- 1. Ammonia emissions from beef cattle feedyards: Seven years of research in Texas Richard W. Todd N. Andy Cole Heidi M. Waldrip USDA Agricultural Research Service Conservation and Production Research Laboratory Bushland, TX
- 2. Precursor to respirable particulates Overfertilization of N-sensitive terrestrial ecosystems Eutrophication of surface waters, toxic algal blooms Hypoxic bottom zone, Gulf of Mexico Ammonia Impacts
- 3. Feed Production Feed Production Atmospheric NH3 50 Atmospheric NH3 50 Removed 20 >95% of total volatilized NH3 Diet 100 Excreted N 85% Pens Retention pond 5 Runoff Stockpile, compost, land application Nitrogen flows in the feedyard < 5% Bierman et al. (1999), Cole et al. (2006), Farran et al. (2006), Flesch et al. (2007), Todd et al. (2008) 15 10 Haber-Bosch Process N2 Natural gas NH4 + fertilizer
- 7. 50403020 60 70 80 Ammonia-N loss as % of fed N FG (b) NP (b) FG (b) NP (b) LD (a)LD (a) LD (c) GD (d) LD (f) LD (f) GD (d) LD (f) LD (f) (a) Harper et al. (2004) (b) Todd et al. (2005) (c) Flesch et al. (2007) (d) Todd et al. (2008) (e) Rhoades et al. (2010) (f) Todd et al. (2011) CD Chemilum./dispersion model FG Flux-Gradient GD Gas washing/dispersion model LD Open path laser/dispersion model NP N:P ratio CD (e) CD (e) Winter Summer
- 8. Inverse dispersion technique to estimate emission (Flesch et al., 2005) • Ammonia concentration • Atmospheric turbulence • Carefully defined source area
- 9. FYC Six seasonal campaigns 43 complete days Todd, R.W., N.A. Cole, R.N. Clark, T.K. Flesch, L.A. Harper, and B.-H. Baek. 2008. Ammonia emissions from a beef cattle feedyard on the southern High Plains. Atmos.Environ. 42:6797-6805.
- 10. FYC Per Capita Fed N or NH3-N Loss Campaign Su02 W03 Su03 W04 Su04 Sp05 PercapitaNloss(ghead -1 d -1 ) 0 50 100 150 200 250 fed N NH3-N
- 11. Mean Monthly Per Head Ammonia-N Emission Rate Feb-07M ar-07Apr-07M ay-07Jun-07Jul-07Aug-07Sep-07O ct-07N ov-07D ec-07Jan-08Feb-08M ar-08Apr-08M ay-08Jun-08Jul-08Aug-08Sep-08O ct-08N ov-08D ec-08Jan-09 Percapitaammonia-Nemissionrate(ghead-1 d-1 ) 0 50 100 150 200 250 Feedyard E Feedyard A
- 12. Mean Monthly Ammonia-N Emission Rate and Crude Protein Feb-07M ar-07Apr-07M ay-07Jun-07Jul-07Aug-07Sep-07O ct-07N ov-07D ec-07Jan-08Feb-08M ar-08Apr-08M ay-08Jun-08Jul-08Aug-08Sep-08O ct-08N ov-08D ec-08Jan-09 Percapitaammonia-Nemissionrate(ghead-1 d-1 ) 0 50 100 150 200 250 Crudeproteincontent(%) 0 5 10 15 20 25 Feedyard E ER Feedyard A ER Feedyard E CP Feedyard A CP
- 13. Mean Annual Ammonia-N Loss as Fraction of Fed N Year Feedyard E Feedyard A % of fed N Feb07-Jan08 52 49 Feb08-Jan09 47 66 Todd, R.W., N.A. Cole, M.B. Rhoades, D.B. Parker, and K.D. Casey. 2011. Daily, monthly, seasonal and annual ammonia emissions from southern High Plains cattle feedyards. J. Environ. Qual. 40:1-6.
- 14. Mean Annual Ammonia Emission Rates Feedyard 2002-05 2007 2008 lb NH3 animal-1 d-1 FYC 0.26 FYA 0.24 0.37 FYE 0.22 0.20 Todd, R.W., N.A. Cole, R.N. Clark, T.K. Flesch, L.A. Harper, and B.-H. Baek. 2008. Ammonia emissions from a beef cattle feedyard on the southern High Plains. Atmos.Environ. 42:6797-6805. Todd, R.W., N.A. Cole, M.B. Rhoades, D.B. Parker, and K.D. Casey. 2011. Daily, monthly, seasonal and annual ammonia emissions from southern High Plains cattle feedyards. J. Environ. Qual. 40:1-6.
- 15. Fractional Ammonia Loss % of fed N Feedyard Summer Winter Annual % of fed N FYC 68 36 53 FYA 71 44 58† FYE 68 42 52† † Includes spring and autumn emissions
- 16. Fractional NH3-N Loss, Great Plains Feedyards Preece, S.L.M., N.A. Cole, R.W. Todd, and B.W. Auvermann. 2012. Ammonia emissions from cattle feeding operations. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, E-632. College Station, TX.
- 17. LossNH3-N = 0.5 Nfed EFNH3 = 88 lb head-1 yr-1
- 18. Conclusions • Ammonia is significant loss of N from feedyards 1/2 of fed N lost with optimum diets • With a well-planned and managed feeding program, feedyard cattle emit ¼ lb NH3 per animal per day • Previous emission factors underestimated We recommend an annual emission factor of 88 lb (40 kg) per animal (one-time capacity)
- 19. Questions?
Editor's Notes
- Cattle feedyards are a significant source of ammonia emitted to the atmosphere. Where does that ammonia come from? 1. It comes from the air – 78% of the atmosphere is nitrogen gas. It's converted to ammonium fertilizer, which is used in feed production 2. In this example, cattle are fed 100 units of a corn-based diet, and I’ll show you some typical numbers. 3. Anywhere from 10 to 15% of nitrogen intake is retained in animals. 4. But most of the N is excreted onto the pen surface, as urea in the the urine and organic N forms in the feces. 5. Urea converts quickly to ammonium, which volatilizes and is lost to the atmosphere. More than 95% of the total lost ammmonia comes from the pen surface. 6. A small amount of nitrogen runs off into the feedyard’s water retention structure. 7. And, manure is periodically removed from the pen surface and either stockpiled, composted or applied to land. 8. Ammonia emissions from the pond and removed manure are very small.
- We conducted and completed six seasonal campaigns that allowed us to characterize ammonia emissions.
- Mean of all four years = 96.5 g/head/d Contrast this with mean annual PCER from FYC = 96 g/head/d No sig. diff. between feedyards in 2007
- Mean of all four years = 96.5 g/head/d Contrast this with mean annual PCER from FYC = 96 g/head/d No sig. diff. between feedyards in 2007
- Figure 2: Ammonia-N loss as a percentage of fed nitrogen from Great Plains beef cattle feedyards. Studies: (a) Todd and Cole, unpublished data, (b) Todd and Cole, unpublished data, (c) Todd et al., 2011, (d) Todd et al., 2008, (e) van Haarlem et al., 2008, (f) McGinn et al., 2007, (g) Flesch et al., 2007, (h) Harper et al., 2004, (i) Todd et al., 2005, (j) Todd et al., 2005, (k), Cole et al, 2006, (l) Erickson and Klopfenstein, 2004, (m) Erickson et al., 2000, (n) Bierman et al., 1999.
- Ammonia is a significant loss of N from feedyards