Effect of the Milking Frequency on the Concentrations of Ammonia and Greenhouse Gases within an Open Dairy Barn in Hot Climate Conditions

Provvidenza Rita D’Urso and Claudia Arcidiacono
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Provvidenza Rita D’Urso: Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Building and Land Engineering Section, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 100, 95123 Catania, Italy
Claudia Arcidiacono: Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Building and Land Engineering Section, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 100, 95123 Catania, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: Knowledge of how different management strategies affect gas production from livestock buildings can be helpful for emission predicting purposes and for defining mitigation strategies. The objective of this study was to statistically assess whether and how measured concentrations of ammonia (NH 3 ), methane (CH 4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) were influenced by milking frequency. Concentrations of gases were measured continuously by using infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy in the breeding environment of an open dairy barn located in Sicily in hot climate conditions. Data were acquired by specific in-field experiments carried out in 2016 and 2018, when milking sessions occurred twice a day (2MSs) and three times a day (3MSs), respectively. The number of the milking cows was 64 in both 2MSs and 3MSs. The results showed that concentrations of NH 3 , CH 4 and CO 2 were statistically influenced by the number of milking sessions. From 2MSs to 3MSs, NH 3 concentrations were enhanced ( p < 0.001) due to the higher cow’s activity. Conversely, gas concentrations of CH 4 and CO 2 were lower for 3MSs compared to those for 2MSs due to the effect of the different feeding frequency. Overall, the milking frequency influenced barn management and cow behaviour by modifying the level of gas concentrations in the barn environment.

Keywords: cow behaviour; barn management; gas concentrations; hot climate conditions; open barn; dairy building; greenhouse gases; ammonia (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 complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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