Manure Flushing vs. Scraping in Dairy Freestall Lanes Reduces Gaseous Emissions

Elizabeth G. Ross, Carlyn B. Peterson, Yongjing Zhao, Yuee Pan and Frank M. Mitloehner
Additional contact information
Elizabeth G. Ross: Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616-8521, USA
Carlyn B. Peterson: Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616-8521, USA
Yongjing Zhao: Air Quality Research Center, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616-8521, USA
Yuee Pan: Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616-8521, USA
Frank M. Mitloehner: Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616-8521, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: The objective of the present study was to mitigate ammonia (NH 3 ), greenhouse gases (GHGs), and other air pollutants from lactating dairy cattle waste using different freestall management techniques. For the present study, cows were housed in an environmental chamber from which waste was removed by either flushing or scraping at two different frequencies. The four treatments used were (1) flushing three times a day (F3), (2) flushing six times a day (F6), (3) scraping three times a day (S3), and (4) scraping six times a day (S6). Flushing freestall lanes to remove manure while cows are out of the barn during milking is an industry standard in California. Gas emissions were measured with a mobile agricultural air quality lab connected to the environmental chamber. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) emissions were decreased ( p < 0.001 and p < 0.05) in the flushing vs. scraping treatments, respectively. Scraping increased NH 3 emissions by 175 and 152% for S3 and S6, respectively vs. F3. Ethanol (EtOH) emissions were increased ( p < 0.001) when the frequency of either scraping or flushing was increased from 3 to 6 times but were similar between scraping and flushing treatments. Methane emissions for the F3 vs. other treatments, were decreased ( p < 0.001). Removal of dairy manure by scraping has the potential to increase gaseous emissions such as NH 3 and GHGs.

Keywords: ammonia emissions; dairy cow; flushing; freestall barn; scraping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/10/5363/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/10/5363/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:10:p:5363-:d:552354

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().