Manure management facilities on farms and
their relevance to efficient nutrient use
Bernard Hyde & Owen, T. Carton
Teagasc, Johnstown Castle
The Fertilizer Association of Ireland
Winter Scientific Meeting 25th November 2005
Faculty of Agriculture, University College Dublin
Manure
2003 - 6.3 million animals = 37 million
tonnes
Slurry = 29.3 million tonnes
Solid = 7.7 million tonnes
Dairy cows ~ 28% of slurry & ~ 7% of solid manure
Solid manure21%
Slurry79%
Topic – facilities & utilisation Manure management facilities
Storage Spreading date Spreading method
Nutrient efficiency Manure type N, P & K
Cost vs. nutrient value
Requirements for efficient nutrient use NMP
Changing slurry spreading date
Changing slurry spreading method
Storage vs. spreading date?
Cost benefit?
Efficient manure nutrient use
NMP
Soil Manure Crop demand Code of Practice
Rate Date Method
Current utilisation? Indicators?
FUS (2002 & 2005) Indications of N, P & K overuse
Fert. input = Fert. required Slurry?
Farm Facilities Survey (2003) – crop & timing of application
Topic – facilities & utilisation Manure management facilities
Storage Spreading date Spreading method
Timing of slurry application & % of total
Spring Summer Autumn Winter Total
Conservation land 0.26 0.43 0.11 0.03 0.83
Grazing land 0.05 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.13
Maize 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.03
Tillage 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02
Total 0.33 0.48 0.14 0.05
Timing of slurry application & % of total
Spring Summer Autumn Winter Total
Conservation land 0.26 0.43 0.11 0.03 0.83
Grazing land 0.05 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.13
Maize 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.03
Tillage 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02
Total 0.33 0.48 0.14 0.05
Timing of slurry application & % of total
Spring Summer Autumn Winter Total
Conservation land 0.26 0.43 0.11 0.03 0.83
Grazing land 0.05 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.13
Maize 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.03
Tillage 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02
Total 0.33 0.48 0.14 0.05
Timing of slurry application
Spring Summer Autumn Winter
Conservation land 31 52 13 4
Utilisation efficiency
N 25 5 0 0
P 100 100 100 100
K 100 100 100 100?
Timing of slurry application
Spring Summer Autumn Winter
Conservation land 31 52 13 4
Utilisation efficiency
N 25 5 0 0
P 100 100 100 100
K 100 100 100 100?
WHY ?
Efficient manure nutrient use
Efficient manure nutrient use
Efficient manure nutrient use
Storage Spreading date – 4% in winter
Estimated storage deficits – national basis 21% for 16 week storage 31% for 22 week storage
Action Programme Ban on winter spreading Required minimum slurry storage
Reconcile deficit and date?
Landspreading - N efficiency N efficiency – key issue
Spreading date & rate Soil/weather conditions
Contamination Spreading date
Spreader availability Farmer owned Contractor
Median 10 percentile90 percentile365 days
0 days
183 days
365 days
0 days
183 days
Slurry spreading opportunitiesDistribution of the number of days on which soils have a soil moisture deficit in excess of 10 mm. (Schulte et al., in press)
Silage contamination ?
End March/early April
Crop – too far advanced
Risk of poor fermentation
Spreader availability C.S.O. – Census of Ag. 2000
124, 108 livestock farms (< 5 to >= 100 ha)
72, 368 livestock farms (20 to >= 100 ha)
31, 046 farms own or share slurry tankers
35, 281 farms hire or borrow slurry tankers
Farm Facilities Survey
94
88
61
44
34 33
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Farm
Holding
Fragment 2 Fragment 3 Fragment 4 Fragment 5 Fragment 6+
Num
ber
of F
arm
s
27% consist of 1 holding
31% have 4 + fragments
Farm Fragmentation
Farm Fragmentation
Fragment Distance
2.9 2.9
4.1
6.6
4.9
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
Fragment 2 Fragment 3 Fragment 4 Fragment 5 Fragment 6+
Dis
tance (
km
)
Farm Fragmentation – distance (km)
Topic – facilities & utilisation
Nutrient efficiency
Nutrient availability
Type of manure
Dry matter(%) *
N (kg/t)
Total Spring Summer
P (kg/t) K (kg/t)
Cattle
slurry6.9 3.6 0.9 0.2 0.6 4.3
* Dry matter content varies widely and this determines the nutrient contents
N availability in slurryOrganic - N
(Ammonium – N)
Inorganic - N
Ammonium - N
Spring
NH3
Crop available
Summer
NH3
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Fertiliser N for silage compared to slurry N
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Fertiliser N for silage compared to slurry N
?
Current utilisation vs. available N
Spreading method
Spreading date
Soil/weather conditions
=
=
=
=
=
NH3
=
NH
3
=
NH3
NH
3
NH
3
Efficient manure nutrient use
Advantages of trailing shoe application NH3 emission reduced Recovery of total N ~ 40 - 50% Slurry can be applied to taller crops Slurry applied to soil surface –
contamination ? Increased opportunity for spring application Heavier soils in wetter areas Teagasc research
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Fertiliser N for silage compared to slurry N
?
Organic N
Inorganic/organic = 50/50 Organic material/solid fraction Currently not considered as a
reliable N source Mineralization 60 kg N/ha (33t/ha) for slurry Teagasc research
Topic – facilities & utilisation
Cost vs. nutrient value
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Economic value of slurry N (€ million)
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Economic value of slurry N (€ million)
6%
22%
44%
88%
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Economic value of slurry N (€ million)€ 67.2
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Economic value of slurry N (€ million)€ 67.2
€ 3.8
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Economic value of slurry N (€ million)€ 67.2
€ 3.8
€ 14.8
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Economic value of slurry N (€ million)€ 67.2
€ 3.8
€ 14.8
€ 29.5
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
Fertiliser N Total slurry N Available slurry N Current advice Current utilisation
Tonn
es
Economic value of slurry N (€ million)€ 67.2
€ 3.8
€ 14.8
€ 29.5
€ 59.1
Economic value (million €) of slurry
Nitrogen, €59.1
Potassium, €45.4
Phosphorus, €23.7
Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium
Economic value (million €) of slurry
€ 83.9 million
Economic value (million €) of slurry
€ 98.7 million
Economic value (million €) of slurry
€ 128.1 million
Summary 29.3 million tonnes slurry
Current utilisation
Key issues - storage & landspreading
Nutrient availability – N efficiency
Spreading methodology – conventional vs ts
Economic value of slurry - €128 million
Conclusions Manure/slurry is a valuable resource
Short-term Change application timing from summer/autumn to
spring Change spreading method Available N in slurry a/c’s ~ 45% of purchased fert. N
Long-term Increase nutrient efficiency Organic N
Research
Efficient manure nutrient use