Managing Livestock Ammonia: A Volatile,

Promiscuous, Fugitive in the Atmosphere?

Jay Ham

Department of Soil and Crop SciencesColorado State University

Acknowledgements

Christina Williams, Joshua Stratton, Kira Shonkwiler

Co-PIs and Funding Agencies

CSU Department of Atmospheric Science

Members of RMNP Agric. Subcommittee

Cooperators and Industry Partners

Outline

The Global Nitrogen Cycle

Regional Ammonia– N deposition in Rocky

Mountain National Park– What is the contribution

from Livestock ? Farm Scale Solutions

– Measurement, Models, & BMPs

Part 1: The Global Nitrogen Cycle and Livestock Production

“a small leak will sink a great ship” - Benjamin Franklin

A safe operating space for humanity

Rockström et al. 2009. Nature, 461, 472-475Galloway et al. 2008. Science, 320,www.ted.com/talks/johan_rockstrom_let_the_environment_guide_our_development.html

Nitrogen !

Erisman et al., 2008. Nature Geoscience

“Globally around 80% of harvested nitrogen and phosphorus is consumed by livestock rather than directly by people, showing how global nutrient supply and pollution are dominated by humans’ choice to consume animal products.” Sutton et al., 2013.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)http://www.gpa.unep.org/gpnm

Sutton et al., 2013. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Recommendations from “Our Nutrient World”

promotion of the ‘ demitarian ’ option, which we define as a meal containing half the amount of meat or fish compared with the normal local amount …,

The Barsac Declaration

Demitarian

Global Nitrogen Fluxes and Livestock AmmoniaFluxes Tg N / yr

Nitrogen Fertilizer 120

Nitrogen Fixation 50-70

Crop and Grass Production 122

Crop and Grass for Livestock Production

100 (81%)

NH3 Emissions from Soils 15

NH3 Emissions from Livestock 22 (59.5 %)

Total NH3 from Agriculture 37

Sutton et al., 2013. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Got Beef ? Got Ammonia !

Retention of fed nitrogen in feedlot cattle is typically 13%

Most fed nitrogen is excreted in the urine and feces as urea

Up to 50% of fed N can be lost to the atmosphere as NH3

Map Courtesy of P.I. Coyne

9.5 million head * 0.31-0.37 lbs N excreted /day

= 2.7 to 3.5 million lbs N/day of excreted N

If 50% is lost to the atmosphere as NH3

1.4 to 1.7 million lbs. of ammonia/day

Satellite Data of NH3 OVER NORTH AMERICA (2009)

Data from Colette L. Heald, CSU

Part 2: Nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park

A "perfect storm" is an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_storm

Rocky Mountain National Park

http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Education/education.htm

NH3SOx NOx

Emissions

Gas-Particle Partitioning (aerosol formation)

NH3

H2SO4

HNO3

NH4+

SO42-

NO3-

Deposition

Dry Wet

Transport

NH3

(Slide by Luke Schiferl)

http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Education/education.htm

Wet Deposition Sampling

Wet N Deposition in RMNP

Morris et al., 2012. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/ARD/NRR—2012/562

http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Education/education.htm

Colorado Ammonia Sources

Rocky Mountain National Park Initiative ‐ Nitrogen Deposition Reduction Contingency Plan. June 21, 2010

NE Colorado CAFO Map

Malm, W. C., Collett, Jr., J. L., et al. (2009) The Rocky Mountain Airborne Nitrogen and Sulfur Study (RoMANS), final report to the National Park Service.

strategy taken for apportioning various aerosol species concentrations and deposition to source emissions is a weight-of-evidence approach, comparing and contrasting results from multiple analyses.

Wet Nitrogen Deposition

Part 3: Measurements, Modeling, and BMPs

“What gets measured gets managed “

- Peter Drucker

CSU Livestock NH3 Research

Measurement of NH3 Emissions and Regional Conc. Patterns

Development of management BMPs

Modeling and Software Tools

New TechnologyFunding Sources:USDA, EPA, NRCS, and NSF

Best Management Practices to Reduce Livestock Ammonia

Impacts Feed Management

Change Manure Management

Meteorological Warning Systems

NH3 Measurement Technology

Blue – 13.5% CPRed – OscillatingGreen – 11.6% CP

Effect of Reduced Crude Protein Diet on Pen Surface NH3 Emissions

Diet

Galles K., Ham J., Westover E., Stratton J., Wagner J., Engle T., Bryant T.C. 2011. Influence of Reduced Nitrogen Diets on Ammonia Emissions from Cattle Feedlot Pens. Atmosphere. 2(4):655-670.

New Measurement Technology

Identification of NH3 “Hot Spots”

Tracking and Trend Detection of NH3 emissions

Information for Decision Making

Meeting future regulatory requirements

Robotics for Managing Air Emissions of Ammonia at Livestock Operations

Ham et al., 2012.National Robotics Initiative (NSF/USDA-NIFA)

Goal: Develop a robotic air-quality management system for dairies and cattle feedlots that will help managers reduce ammonia emissions

Design new low-cost Laser for real-time NH3 monitoring

Laser Det.

Sample Gas

Develop a wireless NH3 sensor network

Design weather forecast retrieval system to predict NH3 emissions and transport in advance.

Conditional Passive Samplers

Conditional Passive Samplers

``

Linear Actcuator

Acrylic Tube

Cap

Spacer

Vertical Adapter

Radiello Diffusive Sampler

Foam

Acrylic Disc

Hall Effect Sensor

Control Cable

Spacer

Clevis

Clevis

PlungerMagnet

Hall Effect Cable

Arduino

Northern Colorado Dairy

Beef Feedlot NH3 Concentrations

http://sensemake.rs/portfolio-item/air-quality-egg/

http://aircasting.org/http://aircasting.org/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-government-network/2011/aug/18/internet-of-things-local-government

http://www.economist.com/node/17388368

https://www.farmeron.com/

Conclusions

Livestock NH3 is becoming a dominant global and regional environmental issue – and linkages between N pollution, livestock, and food choice will gain more attention over time.

Contact Information: jay.ham@colostate.edu; 970-491-4112

Conclusions

The Front Range of Colorado and RMNP has emerged as a test case for how science, policy, and cooperation among stakeholders can address a regional NH3 issue.

Contact Information: jay.ham@colostate.edu; 970-491-4112

Conclusions

New measurement technologies, IoT, and M2M communications will likely greatly help livestock managers reducer NH3 losses.

Contact Information: jay.ham@colostate.edu; 970-491-4112

Questions ?

Contact Information: jay.ham@colostate.edu; 970-491-4112