Water quality concerns and revised regulations are changing how confined animal feeding operations manage manure. Devising acceptable and feasible changes in manure practices requires a full understanding of the forces shaping current manure management decisions. Previous theoretical models have shown that a wide range of factors influence the lowest cost solution for manure management. We used...

Characterizing labile P forms in animal manure is a challenge due to their susceptibility to hydrolysis. In this study, we enzymatically characterized P forms in dairy manure (no bedding), collected from a representative dairy farm in New York, by separating into soluble and residual components under mild assay conditions using water and sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.0). About 75% of total manure...

Both enzymatic hydrolysis and solution (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy have been used to characterize P compounds in animal manures. In this study, we comparatively investigated P forms in 0.25 M NaOH/0.05 M EDTA extracts of dairy and poultry manures by the two methods. For the dairy manure, enzymatic hydrolysis revealed that the majority of extracted P was inorganic P (56%)...

The nutrient management element of a CNMP addresses the requirements for land application of manure nutrients. Land application is the preferred method of utilizing manure since these materials can supply large amounts of nutrients for crop growth, thereby reducing the need to apply commercial fertilizers. CNMP criteria are established to provide for adequate nutrients for crop growth and to mi...

In order to apply manure or compost to fulfill the nutrient requirements of a crop, knowledge of the amount of nutrients mineralized following application is needed. Nutrient mineralization from applied manure depends on temperature, soil moisture, soil properties, manure characteristics, and microbial activity. Since these factors cannot be accurately predicted, nutrient mineralization from ap...

Dairy farms generate a considerable amount of manure, which is applied in cropland as fertilizer. While the use of manure as fertilizer reduces the application of chemical fertilizers, the main concern with regards to manure application is microbial pollution. Manure is a reservoir of a broad range of microbial populations, including pathogens, which have potential to cause contamination and po...

Cattle diet can impact manure quality and quantity, but has minimal impact on methane production from anaerobic digestion of manure. Quality of manure, measured as organic matter (OM) content, does affect methane production and is largely impacted by the environment cattle are housed in and methods used to collect manure. In three anaerobic digestion trials, as the amount of ash contamination o...