Ammonia and Nitrous Oxide Model for Open Lot Cattle Production Systems

AMMONIA AND NITROUS

OXIDE MODEL FOR OPEN

LOT CATTLE PRODUCTION

SYSTEMS

Henry Bonifacio, Al Rotz (USDA-ARS, University Park, PA)

April Leytem (USDA-ARS, Kimberly, ID)

Heidi Waldrip, Richard Todd (USDA-ARS, Bushland, TX)

Waste to Worth 2015

BEEF FEEDYARDS AND DAIRY OPEN

LOT EMISSIONS

Open lot facilities for beef and dairy

cattle operations are sources of gaseous

emissions, particularly ammonia (NH3)

and nitrous oxide (N2O)

Gaseous emission rates are needed in

assessing their environmental impacts

and evaluating potential mitigation

practices – however, emission

measurements can be costly and difficult

An alternative approach of estimating

emissions is through process-based

modeling

INTEGRATED FARM SYSTEM MODEL

(IFSM)

IFSM is a research and

educational tool for

evaluating performance,

environmental impacts

and economics of crop,

dairy and beef

production systems

Process Level Simulation

Soil

Plant

Crop Harvest

Storage

AnimalManure

Grazing

Volatile loss

Exported manure

Purchased feed,

bedding, etc.

Feed sold

Volatile loss

Fixed

nutrients

Volatile loss

Purchased

fertilizer

Runoff &

Leaching loss

Milk and

animals

Engine exhaust

IFSM V.4.0 OPEN LOT PERFORMANCE

Feedyard A

(FYA)

Feedyard E

(FYE)

Texas beef feedyards (Waldrip et al., 2014)

Index of agreement = 0.63 to 0.81

IFSM V.4.0 OPEN LOT PERFORMANCE

Idaho open lot dairy (data from Leytem et al., 2011)

Index of agreement = 0.14 (almost no agreement)

TEXAS VS. IDAHO CLIMATE

2008 Texas Idaho

Annual 352 mm 212 mm

Winter 13 mm 77 mm

Spring 40 mm 45 mm

Summer 181 mm 29 mm

Fall 118 mm 61 mm

OBJECTIVES

Improve the performance of IFSM in

open lot NH3 emission prediction

under different climatic conditions

(Include effects of both weather and manure

pack conditions)

Incorporate a routine for simulating

N2O emission from open lots

IFSM V.4.0 OPEN LOT ROUTINE

HydrolysisNH4

+

NO3-

Urinary N

Denitrification

Volatilization

Dissociation

NH3(aq)Urine

Feces

(total pen area)

NH4+

9% of fecal N in ammoniacal form

Organic N

Mineralization

Organic N

(constant concentration)

N2O emissionNH3 emission

REVISED IFSM (V.4.1) OPEN LOT ROUTINE

HydrolysisNH4

+

NH3(aq)

NO3-

N2O, N2, NOx

emissions

NO3-

(leached)

Nitrification

Leaching

DenitrificationInfiltration

Volatilization

Dissociation

HydrolysisNH4

+

DissociationAdsorption

NH3(aq)

Volatilization

Urine

Feces

(fresh urine spots)

(non-fresh urine spots)

NH4+

9% of fecal N in ammoniacal form

Organic N

Mineralization

Organic N

NH3 emission

Urinary N

MODEL REFINEMENT

PROCESSES IFSM v.4.0 IFSM v.4.1

Urea Hydrolysis f(water-filled pore

space)

f(soil temperature)a

Surface infiltration - f(runoff curve

number)b

Ammonium Sorption - f(linear partitioning,

solid concentration)c

NH3 Volatilization

- Soil temperature

- Manure mass transfer

resistance

- Surface area with

emission

Montes et al., 2009

Increase of 0.25oC per

MJ/m2

f(WFP)

pen area

Montes et al., 2009

DAYCENT, f(To, solar)

1/Hydraulic

conductivity d

fresh urine spots

non-fresh urine spots

a Based on data of Muck (1982); above 10oC, 100% of urine hydrolyzed in 24 hb Computed from initial abstraction (USDA, 2005)c Linear partitioning coefficient for NH4

+ from Waldrip et al. (2012) d Following relationships of Delgado-Rodriguez et al. (2011)

MODEL REFINEMENT

PROCESSES IFSM v.4.0 IFSM v.4.1

Denitrification

- NO3 concentration

- CO2 concentration

DAYCENT

80 g NO3-N/Mg soil a

10,000 g CO2-C/Mg soil a

DAYCENT

simulated, DAYCENT

simulated, DAYCENT

Nitrification - DAYCENT

Nitrate Leaching - DAYCENT

Organic Matter

Mineralization

NLEAP NLEAP

*Water Filled Pore Space

(WFP)

first 5 cm 4 layers b

15-cm upper layers

100-cm lower layer

a Set by comparing with IPCC factor (2% of excreted N lost as N2O)b Based on CERES-Maize model

TEXAS BEEF FEEDYARDS

Feedyard A

(FYA)

Feedyard E (FYE)

Two commercial beef

feedyards in Texas Panhandle

region (Todd et al., 2011)

IFSM simulation inputs

Animal number:

FYA – 12,684 animal

FYE – 19,620 animal

Meteorological parameters:

Air temperature, wind speed,

precipitation from on-site

measurements

Dietary crude protein adjusted to

equal feed sample measurements

(FYA – 12% to18%; FYE - 10%-15%)

IDAHO OPEN LOT DAIRY

An open lot dairy in southern Idaho

(Leytem et al., 2011)

IFSM simulation inputs

Animal number: 10,000 milking cows

Meteorological parameters:

Air temperature, wind speed, solar

radiation from on-site measurements

Precipitation data from the closest

AgriMet station

Dietary crude protein set to farm

measurements (17 - 18%)

NH3 EMISSIONS – TEXAS FYA

IFSM v.4.0

IFSM v.4.1

Year Parameters Measured Simulated

IFSM4.1 IFSM4.0

2007(152 d)

Emission rate 88 + 36 91 + 31 101 + 41

Index of Agreement

0.81 0.81

2008(215 d)

Emission rate 109 + 56 97 + 41 104 + 55

Index of Agreement

0.80 0.80

Emission rate,

g NH3/animal-day

NH3 EMISSIONS – TEXAS FYE

IFSM v.4.0

IFSM v.4.1

Year Parameters Measured Simulated

IFSM4.1 IFSM4.0

2007(55 d)

Emissionrate

85 + 34 83 + 36 92 + 37

Index of Agreement

0.62 0.63

2008(194 d)

Emissionrate

75 + 26 58 + 26 67 + 32

Index of Agreement

0.59 0.66

Emission rate,

g NH3/animal-day

NH3 EMISSIONS – IDAHO DAIRY

IFSM v.4.0

IFSM v.4.1

Year Parameters Measured Simulated

IFSM4.1 IFSM4.0

2008(13 d)

Emission rate 131 + 34 132 + 23 185 + 84

Index of Agreement

0.56 0.14

Emission rate,

g NH3/animal-day

N2O EMISSIONS – IDAHO DAIRY

IFSM v.4.0(based on IPCC factor)

IFSM v.4.1

Year Parameters Measured Simulated

IFSM4.1 IFSM4.0

2008(13 d)

Emission rate (g NH3/day)

16.9 + 16.1 13.5 + 15.5 3.9 + 0.2

Index of Agreement

0.80 -

Emission rate,

g N2O/animal-day

RATIO OF SIMULATED AND

MEASURED EMISSION RATES

Emission Facility ERsim/ERmeasa

IFSM4.1 IFSM4.0

NH3 TX FYA 1.09 + 0.54 b 1.18 + 0.55 b

TX FYE 0.90 + 0.55 1.00 + 0.57

ID dairy 1.07 + 0.33 1.56 + 0.90

N2O ID dairy 1.05 + 1.07 0.54 + 0.55

a ERsim/ERmeas – ratio of simulated emission rate to

measured emission rateb 6 out of 367 data points removed; if not removed,

1.58 + 6.75, 1.47 + 4.31

CONCLUSIONS

IFSM 4.1 performed better in predicting NH3

emissions as influenced by climatic and

manure pack conditions

Texas feedyards: 59% to 81% agreement (no significant

change)

Idaho open lot dairy: 56% agreement (improved)

For the Idaho open lot dairy,

daily N2O predictions had

80% agreement with

measured emissions

FUTURE NEEDS & IMPROVEMENT

Requirement/Action plan

Model refinement,

evaluation

Continuous measurements of NH3 and N2O

emissions in different climatic regions:

- more data for open lots in western U.S. to

verify high NH3 emissions during periods with

cold weather but wet manure pack

- more data on open lot N2O emissions

Simulation settings User-input to the following:

- pen manure removal frequency

- stocking density

- lot access time (open lot-freestall facilities)

- pen management practices such as

surface water application

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

QUESTIONS?

United States Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Service

REFERENCES

Delgado-Rodriguez, O., H.J. Peinado-Guevera, C.R. Green-Ruiz, J. Herrera-Barrientos, and V. Shevnin.

2011. Determination of hydraulic conductivity and fines content in soils near and unlined irrigation

canal in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. JSSPN. 11:13-31.

Leytem, A.B., R.S. Dungan, D.L. Bjorneberg, and A.C. Koehn. 2011. Emissions of ammonia, methane,

carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide from dairy cattle housing and manure management systems. JEQ.

40:1383-1394.

Montes, F., C.A. Rotz, and H. Chaoui. 2009. Process modeling of ammonia volatilization from

ammonium solution and manure surfaces: a review with recommended models. TASABE 52:1707-

1719.

Muck, R.E. 1982. Urease activity in bovine feces. JDS. 65:2157-2163.

Rotz, C.A., M.S. Corson, D.S. Chianese, F. Montes, S.D. Hafner, H.F. Bonifacio, and C.U. Coiner. 2014.

The Integrated Farm System Model Reference Manual, Version 4.1. USDA-ARS, Pasture Systems and

Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park, PA.

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. JEQ. 40:1-6.

USDA. 2005. Chapter 10 Agricultural Waste Management System Component Design. In National

Engineering Handbook, Part 651, Agricultural Waste Management Field Handbook.

Waldrip, H.M., C.A. Rotz, S.D. Hafner, R.W. Todd, and N.A. Cole. 2014. Process-based modeling of

ammonia emissions from beef cattle feedyards with the Integrated Farm System Model. JEQ.

43:1159-1168.

SUPPORTING SLIDES

SUPPORTING SLIDES – NH3

Open Lot Dairy

– NH3

Open Lot-Freestall

Dairy – NH3

SUPPORTING SLIDES – N2O

Open Lot-Freestall

Dairy

SUPPORTING SLIDES –

ERsim/ERmeas