J. agric. Engng Res. (1999) 74, 145 } 153 Article No. jaer.1999.0446, available online at http://www.idealibrary.

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Nutrient and Carbon Balance during the Composting of Deep Litter

S. G. Sommer; P. Dahl
Research Centre Bygholm; Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Agricultural Engineering; P.O. Box 536, 8700 Horsens, Denmark; e-mail: Sven G. Sommer@agrsci.dk (Received 11 September 1998; accepted in revised form 29 May 1999)

During the storage of solid animal manure, biological transformation of nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) may increase the temperature from 60 to 703C, i.e. composting. Composting may cause emission losses of ammonia (NH ) and carbon dioxide (CO ). Furthermore, plant nutrients may leach from the compost heaps. During   a composting period of 197 day from September 1997 to April 1998, emission of NH , nitrous oxide (N O),   methane (CH ) and CO was measured using dynamic chambers covering three heaps of deep litter from   a house with dairy cows. Leaching of nutrients during composting was determined. Denitri"cation was estimated as N unaccounted for in an N mass balance. The heaps were either mixed once after 30 days, compressed initially or left untreated. Compacting the heap caused a temperature increase from 10 to 50}603C. The temperature increased from 30 to 403C in the heap being mixed. From both the compacted and mixed heap, the cumulative ammonia volatilization was 0)2 kg N/t corresponding to between 2)6 and 3% of the total N. Half of this amount was lost from the untreated heap in which the temperature only increased marginally in the "rst days after the start of the experiment. Cumulative CO losses were 33 (19%), 20 (12%) and 17 kg C/t (10%) from  the litter mixed after 30 days, compressed deep litter and untreated deep litter, respectively. Emissions of N O  and CH were low. Nitrogen losses due to leaching were (0)8% of the initial N. Total nitrogen losses due to  denitri"cation, NH emission and leaching was from 5 to 19% of the initial N, the lowest from mixed and the  highest from untreated litter.
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1. Introduction Solid manure amounts to about 20% of the Danish manure (Poulsen & Kristensen, 1998). Farmyard manure constitutes the majority of solid manure; however, an increasing interest in loose housing systems built with solid #oors strewn with straw for welfare reasons will in future increase the amount of deep litter (Andersen et al., 1999). It is the policy of the Danish government that 10}20% of Danish agriculture should be farmed in agreement with the rules for organic farming. This will contribute to an increased production of solid manure, as organic farmers tend to have animals on deep litter. During storage, 20}40% of N in deep litter may be lost, mainly though gaseous emission (Karlsson & Jeppson, 1995; Eghball et al., 1997). The Danish government intends to reduce the amount of N imported to farms in
0021-8634/99/100145#09 $30.00/0

feed and fertilizers, thus, a reduction in the loss of N from agriculture is needed to maintain the plant production on traditional farms. In organic farming, N is mainly provided by N-"xing leguminous plants, and as large a part as possible of this N has to be transferred in manure from the grazed "elds to "elds in rotation. E$cient use of manure-N for plant production is, therefore, very important if plant production is to be maintained in both traditional and organic farming systems. Composting processes and gaseous emission of oxidized and reduced nitrogen has been measured during composting of municipal litter or livestock manure being turned frequently, often several times each week (Hellman et al., 1997; Martin & Dewes, 1992). However, there are few studies of nutrient losses from deep litter during composting. During storage, the deep litter will start to compost and organic farmers will enhance the composting
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process by mixing the heap once after one month, because they believe that composting improves the fertilizer value of organic manure. Gaseous emission of N of C and leaching losses of N and P during composting of deep litter has been quanti"ed in this study. A movable dynamic chamber was used to determine gaseous losses, and liquid from the compost was collected for the purpose of estimating leaching losses of nutrients. Furthermore, the loss of N caused by denitri"cation was estimated as a di!erence by means of a mass balance. Techniques for reducing the losses were developed and tested.

2.2. Dynamic chamber The dynamic chamber consists of a mobile chamber covering the storage during measurements, a ventilator for suction of air through the chamber, and equipment for measurement of gas, temperature and wind velocity. A "eld laboratory placed close to the experimental area provided the supply of electricity (340 V AC) to the ventilators and instruments for measurement of gas emission. The three mobile chambers on wheels had the dimensions: height, 1)6 m; width, 2 m; and length 4 m. The chambers were made of marine plywood and mounted on a metal frame, with only one gable closed by plywood, the opposite end being open for facilitating the chambers to be moved over the heaps, and connected to a stationary gable placed at the end of the sealed surface. The gable on the chambers had an opening for incoming air. A steel tube (length of 2 m, inner diameter of 0)40 m) with a ventilator was connected to the stationary gable. A rectangular metal frame was mounted on the sealed surface perpendicular to the stationary gable. The dimensions (length of 4 m, width of 2 m) of the frame allowed it to "t closely with the chambers when mounted. Air was drawn through the chamber by the ventilator, enabling measurements of the #ux of gases to and from the chamber. Air#ow through the dynamic chamber was measured with cup anemometers in the steel pipe, the air#ow rates could be adjusted from the "eld laboratory. Air temperature and the temperature 0)40 m above the bottom of the deep litter heap was measured with PT100 and thermocouple sensors (Kontram A/S, DK-Copenhagen). The sensors were connected to a datalogger (Datataker DT200, Data Electronics Ltd, Australia). One-quarter of an hour before a measurement, the chambers were moved over the deep litter heap and "xed

2. Material and methods 2.1. reatments Gas emission and leaching losses of nutrients were measured during 197 days, composting in three pilotscale heaps of deep litter from the housing of dairy cows. The litter was stored in heaps with a length of 3)7 m, width of 1)9 m and height of 1)3 m on a sealed surface (length of 4 m, width of 2 m), with collection of runo! to closed containers buried in the soil. The amount and composition of the deep litter used for composting is given in Table 1. In the experiment from 29th September 1997 to 14th April 1998, the deep litter was mixed by treating the material three times with a manure spreader on the "rst day of the experiment. Immediately after this treatment, three portions of the litter were stored under the following conditions: (1) compressed once during storage, (2) mixed once by turning the heap manually after 30 d, and (3) untreated.

Table 1 Quantity and composition of stored deep litter from housing of dairy cows. The deep litter was compressed, mixed after 30 days and untreated. Volume of the deep litter heaps being 3, 3'2 and 3'6 m3, respectively. (Standard deviation in bracket for two samples) Sampling Treatment occasion Initial Untreated Compressed Mixed Untreated Compressed Mixed Amount, t DM 0)720 0)980 0)660 0)810 0)990 0)810 422 (1) 379 (50) 409 (11) 214 (9) 229 (5) 202 (3) Ash 61 (1) 52 (6) 59 (2) 46 (2) 55 (4) 46 (3) Ntotal 8)4 (0)3) 7)5 (1)1) 8)3 (0)1) 6)0 (0)2 6)5 (0)3) 6)4 (0)4) Composition, g/kg TAN 0)54 (0)03) 0)63 (0)04) 0)60 (0)04) 0)21 (0)02) 0)26 (0)02) 0)23 (0)02) NO3 0)20 (0)00) 0)13 (0)04) 0)25 (0)04) 0)00 (0)00) 0)00 (0)00) 0)00 (0)00) P 1)43 (0)03) 1)21 (0)20) 1)40 (0)02) 1)16 (0)04) 1)31 (0)07) 1)17 (0)05) K 13)5 (0)1) 12)0 (1)3) 13)7 (0)5) N.D. N.D. N.D. C 177)9 (0)9) 160)3 (24)2) 172)4 (4)8) 85)98 (6)1) 91)65 (4)3) 79)20 (3)0)

End

DM, dry matter; TAN, total ammoniacal nitrogen.

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to the stationary gable. When measuring emissions of NH , the wind speed was adjusted to 3 m/s; and when  measuring emission of N O, CH and CO , the wind    speed was adjusted to 1)2 m/s. Atmospheric NH of air  #owing into the chambers and from each chamber was determined with two active denuders (Ferm, 1979) at each sampling occasion. For the analysis of CH , N O   and CO , four gas samples of 55 ml were taken with  syringes both at the inlet of the chamber, and from the steel tube 30 cm from the gable on each measuring occasion. The samples were stored as described below for gas samples taken from the deep litter heap. The emission was calculated as the di!erence in the #ux between the incoming and outgoing gases. Determination of emission was stopped in January 1997 after 87 days, because no gas emission could be detected in January. Concentrations of gas in and emissions from the heaps were determined twice on the "rst day, once each day from day 2 to 6, twice per week from week 2 to 5, once each week from week 6 to 8 and once every fortnight from week 9 to 12.

from each heap. Samples of liquid (0)5 l) leaching from the dung heap were taken when the containers were nearly full and emptied. The samples of organic material and liquid were stored at !183C. Before analysis, the organic material was thawed to 03C and the sample of 2 l was "nely chopped with a cutting machine. Representative subsamples of about 500 g of the chopped material were then cut into small pieces and from this material 100 g was taken for analysis. All manure samples were analysed for dry matter (DM), ash content, total C, Kjeldahl N (N ), total ammoniacal   nitrogen (TAN), NO\, P and K.  2.5. Analysis 2.5.1. Ammonia The concentration of ammonia in the air from the background and from the dynamic chamber was determined by active denuders (Ferm, 1979). An active denuder consists of a glass tube (length 500 mm, inner diameter 7 mm) coated on the inside with oxalic acid, through which air is drawn at a "xed air#ow. A diaphragm pump provides suction and a critical ori"ce adjusts the air#ow to exactly 0)9 l/min through the denuder. All NH #owing into the tube is absorbed by the  oxalic acid. After exposure, the amount of NH absorbed  in the tubes was determined, by dissolving the coating in 5 ml water and analysing NH concentration using  a QuickChem 4200 (Lachat Instruments WI, USA). 2.5.2. Methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and oxygen Nitrous oxide and CH were measured on a Hewlett Packard (5890, series II) gas chromatograph with an electron capture detector and a #ame ionization detector. It was equipped with a 1)8 m;3 mm column with porapak Q 80/100 for N O; with Ar/CH (95/5) used as   carrier gas at 30 ml/min; and temperatures of injection port, oven and detection were 110, 40 and 3203C, respectively. Methane was isolated with a 1)8 m;3 mm column with poropak N 80/100; He was used as a carrier gas at 30 ml/min; and temperatures of injection port, oven and detection were 110, 40 and 2703C, respectively. Oxygen and CO were measured on a Varian 3350 gas chromato graph equipped with a thermal conductivity detector. It was equipped with a 1 m;3 mm column with Molecular Sieve 5A 60/80 for isolating O and a 2 m;3 mm Haysep  R 80/100 for CO . The carrier gas was He at a #ow rate  of 30 ml/min, and the temperatures of oven and detector were 30 and 1903C, respectively. 2.5.3. Nutrient composition Total ammoniacal nitrogen and NO\ in the solid  manure were extracted in 1 M KCl for 30 min, "ltered

2.3. Gas-phase composition For the determination of CH , N O, CO and oxygen    (O ) gas samples were collected from the centre of the  deep litter heaps by modifying the technique of Petersen et al. (1998). The two ends of a #exible, but rigid plastic tube with an internal diameter (i.d.) of 10 mm and containing four holes, 2 mm in diameter, per cm length were connected to two 2 m lengths of gas-tight Te#on tubes (i.d. 2 mm). The Te#on tubes were connected to a diaphragm pump (Model 5002, ASF GmbH, Germany). A silicone tube was inserted into the rigid tube, but after 2}3 weeks no air samples could be collected, and on day 30 the silicone tube was removed from the rigid plastic tube in the heap that was mixed after 30 days. A septum for gas sampling was located immediately after the diaphragm pump, continuously circulating air through the tubes during an experiment. Four samples of 60 ml were taken at each sample collection with syringes. The gas samples were transferred to 5 ml glass bottles "tted with butyl rubber septa. When transferring a sample to the glass bottle, an extra needle was inserted through the rubber seal and the bottle was #ushed with 45 ml of the gas in the syringe; then the needle penetrating the septum was removed and the 15 ml remaining in the syringe was injected.

2.4. Nutrient composition At the initiation and the conclusion of the experiment, two samples each of 2 l of organic material were taken

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before analysis with a QuickChem 4200 #ow injection analyser (Lachat Instr. WI, USA). Dry matter was determined after drying at 1053C for 24 h, and ash content at 5503C for 4 h. Total C was determined by dry combustion (Leco model 521-275), K by #ame photometry (FLM3, Radiometer) after incineration and dissolving in acid, and P was measured colorimetrically (Spectronic 1001, Braush & Lomb) after incineration and dissolving in acid, and a colouring reaction with ammonium molybdate vanadate. Total nitrogen was analysed using the Kjeldahl method and a Kjellfoss 16200 (Copenhagen, DK). Total-nitrogen, P, K, TAN and NOU  in the leachate from the dung heap were determined without extraction.

where DM and DM are the dry matter concentraQR?PR CLB tion in g/kg; Q and Q the mass in kg; and P and QR?PR CLB QR?PR P the concentration of phosphorous in g P/kg of deep CLB litter stored and compost at the end of the experiment, respectively. In Eqn (4), ash concentration may be used instead of phosphorous.

3. Results and discussion 3.1. emperature and gas concentration in the compost At the initiation of the experiments the ambient wind speed was high. Therefore, the temperature only increased from 20 to 303C in the heaps that were not compressed and to 50}603C in the compressed heap (Fig. 1). The O concentrations inside the heaps were  almost at the same level as the concentration in the ambient air (data not shown), indicating that the air#ow rate through the heaps was su$cient to replenish O used in the aerobic metabolism of organic residues by  micro-organisms. The temperature measured during the "rst week was related to changes in ambient wind speed and declined at wind speeds above 15 m/s. The CO concentration in the  compressed heap increased considerably, and the concentration re#ected changes in the temperature of the heaps (Fig. 1). Temperature and CO concentrations are  related, because photosynthesis processes are negligible in compost and CO , therefore, can be regarded as  a parameter for microbial activity (Knuth, 1969). After a few weeks, no gas could be sampled from inside the heaps, due to a reduced permeability of the silicone tube in the perforated plastic tube. The sampler in the mixed heap was changed with a plastic tube without a silicone tube when mixing the heap after 30 days. After mixing both the temperature and CO concentration increased  in this heap, but a temperature increase was also measured in the compressed heap (Fig. 1). The increase is probably related to growth of actinomyces and fungi after the temperature decline, the fungi using cellulose and hemicellulose as substrate (Hellman et al., 1997). After 50 days, the temperature in the compressed and mixed heap declined to ambient temperature and CO in  the mixed heap declined to ambient concentrations. The N O concentration in the heaps did not deviate  from the ambient concentrations apart from concentrations of 2)2 p.p.m. in the compressed heap on the "rst day and concentrations of 1)1 p.p.m. after having mixed the heap. Methane concentrations were between 2 and 3 p.p.m. and almost similar to the ambient concentrations near a dairy farm (data not shown). Nitrous oxide and CH concentrations were low compared with those  measured in the studies of Petersen et al. (1998) and

2.6. Calculations The average NH concentration C in g NH -N/m  ?RK  in the air passing through two Ferm tubes used at each sampling occasion was calculated by the following equation: (C #C !2C ) <   "  (1) ?RK 2; t " where C and C are the concentrations of NH> in    g NH }N/l in the leachate from the two exposed de nuders, C the average concentration of NH> in   g NH }N/l in the leachate from four blank denuders, < is  the volume of water used to dissolve the NH> sorbed in  the denuders (0)005 l), ; is the air#ow through the tubes " (0)0009 m/min), and t is the time in minutes between the start and conclusion of the measurement. The gas emission F in g of component/day of NH ,  N O and CO is calculated by the equation:   F"60;24 uA (X !X ) (2) C @ where X and X are the concentration of gases in g/m C @ in air from a dynamic chamber and background air, respectively, u the air#ow in the tunnel in m/s and A the cross-sectional area of the steel duct in m. Total loss of DM, N an P was calculated by a mass balance [Eqn (3)]. The ash and P content were assumed to be conserved and used for correction of DM, thus providing a basis for estimating nutrient losses during storage (Petersen et al., 1998; Dewes et al., 1990). The precision of this technique was tested by comparing losses of dry matter F in kg determined by the use of "+ total mass balance [(Eqn (3)] and conservation of either P or ash [(Eqn (4)]. C "0)001 (DM Q !DM Q ) (3) "+ QR?PR QR?PR CLB CLB F "0)001 Q (DM !DM P / P ) (4) "+ QR?PR QR?PR CLB QR?PR CLB F

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Fig. 1. Temperature readings (a) and CO2 concentrations (b) in three heaps of stored and composting deep litter from the housing of dairy cows. The deep litter was treated as follows: ~~), compressed; ~ ) ) ~ , mixed once after 30 days; ~ ~ ~ , left untreated; . . . . . , air temperature

Sibbesen and Lind (1993). The open structure of the deep litter has facilitated a high convection of air through the organic material, which has diluted the gases and reduced N O and CH formation, or induced CH oxida   tion.

3.2. Gaseous emissions Emission of CO was high immediately after the heaps  were established and in a period between 30 and 40 days after the initiation of the experiment. Emission of 2}3 kg CO -C/t per day was determined during these periods  (Fig. 2). The emission of CO was not detectable after 87  days. The total CO emissions were 33, 20 and 17 kg C/t  from the litter being mixed after 30 days, compressed deep litter and untreated deep litter, respectively. The emission of CO was signi"cant and reduced the content  of C in the compost heap with 10}19% (Table 2). The highest emission of N O of 10 g N/t per day or  approximately 2}3 g N/m per day was observed 10}15 days after the initiation of the experiment. In studies of Czepiel et al. (1996) and Hellmann et al. (1997) the highest N O emissions were observed 30}70 days after the initia tion of the experiment. The di!erence in emission pattern may re#ect that the temperature in these two experiments was high in a longer period than in the present study. The emission was low compared with emissions from untreated manure heaps determined by Sibbesen and Lind (1993) and Petersen et al. (1998).

Methane emission from the compressed and untreated litter was only observed in the period from 30 to 40 days after the initiation of the experiment. The highest CH  emission measured was 40 g CH -C/t per day or approx imately 15 g CH -C/m per day, which is similar to the  emissions determined by Husted (1994). Ammonia was only emitted from the dung heaps during the "rst 10 days after the establishment and in the mixed heap again 2}3 days after turning of the heap (Fig. 3). In a study of NH volatilization from pig deep  litter, Lammers et al. (1997) observed a similar pattern in emission. The volatilization of NH was low from the  heap of untreated litter in which there hardly was any initial increase in temperature, indicating that NH  losses can be reduced by a treatment restraining the temperature increase in deep litter during storage. Cumulative NH volatilization from the compacted and mixed  heaps was similar (Table 2). Ammonia emission during composting was low compared with the losses measured by Lammers et al. (1998), probably because immobilization in the animal house had reduced the concentration of NH> of the litter stored in the heaps. Furthermore, the  litter had a high C : N ratio of 21.

3.3. Mass balance and leaching losses of nutrients The total loss of N, C, P and DM shown in Table 3 was calculated by the concentration of components and the amount of deep litter and compost initially and at the

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Fig. 2. Emission of (a) CO2, (b) CH4 and (c) N2O during 87 days from three heaps of composting deep litter from the housing of dairy cows. The deep litter was treated as follows: ~~) , compressed; ~ ) ) ~ , mixed once after 30 days; ~ ~ ~ , left untreated

end of composting using Eqn (3). For comparison the di!erence in dry matter initially and at the end of composting was calculated by Eqn (4) by assuming a constant ash content during composting * as proposed by Dewes et al. (1990) * or a constant content of P (Table 4). Losses of dry matter calculated by assuming a constant P content was from 13% lower to 12% higher than the DM loss calculated by Eqn (3). Assuming a constant ash content, the DM loss was 6% lower to 25% higher than DM losses calculated using Eqn (3), showing that the ash content may change during a composting period, probably due to the formation of solids of calcium, carbonaceous components and phosphorous. Thus, if the amount of stored manure is too great for being homogenized and weighed, then P would be more precise than the ash content when calculating the losses of nutrients or carbon assuming the content of these components to be constant. Reduction in the dry matter content was between 39 and 40% which is similar to the "ndings of Karlsson and Jeppson (1995). Most of the loss in dry matter during composting can be ascribed to the emission of CO and  CH , because C constitutes a substantial part of the  organic matter (Table 1) and the reduction in C content was between 43 and 46% of the initial C content (Table 3). The loss of C was probably caused by the emission of CO as CH emission was low (Fig. 2). The accumulated   CO emission determined with the dynamic chambers  accounted only for half of the loss of C. The low recovery is probably due to an increase in emission rates of CO in  the spring after the measurements were stopped in January. While the winter rain increased the water content of the compost from 600 to 800 l/t, dilution by rain and emission of CO during the composting period halved  the concentration of DM. Leaching losses of P were less than 0)8% (Table 3) of the initial content and, due to the small losses of P, the recoveries of P in the compost were 92}109%, which is similar to the "ndings of Petersen et al. (1998). As a consequence of the low losses of P during composting and a small increase in the weight of compost, the concentration of P was una!ected by composting. Less than 0)4% of the initial N leached from the compost. The volume of e%uent from the compacted litter was 0)6 m/t and from each of the two other heaps was collected 1 m/t. As N was immobilized, the leaching losses of N were lower than those determined by Martin and Dewes (1992) and Karlsson and Jeppsson (1995). The concentration of TAN in the e%uent was (0)003 g/l and the NO\ concentration was below the detection limit,  indicating that very little inorganic N in the deep litter was dissolved in the rain leaching through the organic material. The absence of NO\ is in accordance with  previous observations of nutrient composition during

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Table 2 Cumulative emission of ammonia, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide during 87 days of composting. After 87 days the emission was below the detection limit of the measuring technique Treatment Ammonia kg N/t ( fresh weight) Untreated Compressed Mixed N , total N.   0)1 0)23 0)22 % Ntotal 1)2 3)0 2)6 Carbon dioxide kg C/t ( fresh weight) 17)1 19)7 32)9 %C 10 12 19 Nitrous oxide g N/t (fresh weight) 0)388 0)17 0)04 % Ntotal 0)0005 0)0002 0)00005

composting of animal manure (Eghball et al., 1997; Petersen et al., 1998). According to the mass balance N losses due to leaching, NH emission and denitri"cation were between  5 and 19% of the initial N. The N loss was low from the mixed manure and high from the untreated manure. These losses are smaller than the losses determined from pig solid manure or cattle manure (Petersen et al., 1998), probably because the C : N ratio of the latter was between 8 and 10, which is much lower than the C : N ratio of 20 in this study. It has been shown by Kirchmann (1985) that an increase in C : N ratio signi"cantly reduces N losses during storage and composting of livestock solid manure. Mixing the heap after 30 days increased microbial activity and may have enhanced immobilization of N, thereby, reducing the total loss of N compared to the untreated

heap. The amount of N unaccounted for in the mass balance was between 1)9 and 14)2% of the initial N. The N unaccounted for may have been lost through denitri"cation; the losses were lower than the denitri"cation losses of 13}33% observed by Petersen et al. (1998). The high porosity of deep litter reduces the sites with anaerobic conditions and immobilization may have competed with denitri"cation reducing the amount of NO\ present  in the compost.

4. Conclusion The immobilization of N caused by a high C : N ratio in deep litter reduces the content of inorganic N during storage of the litter. Consequently, leaching losses of

Fig. 3. Ammonia loss rate (a) and cumulative ammonia volatilization (b) from three heaps of composting deep litter from the housing of dairy cows. The deep litter was treated as follows: ~~ , compressed; ~ ) ) ~ , mixed once after 30 days; ~ ~ ~ , left untreated

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Table 3 Changes in mass balance of nutrients during composting of deep litter from September 1997 to April 1998 during a period of 197 days, negative values indicate an increase in nutrients or C and positive values the loss of nutrients or C (values in parentheses are pool sizes in % of the nutrient or C at start). Gas emission was measured for 87 days Treatment Untreated Method of estimation Di!erence* Gas emission Leaching Unaccounted Di!erence* Gas emission Leaching Unaccounted Di!erence* Gas emission Leaching Unaccounted N, kg N/t 1)6 (19) 0)1 (1)2) 0)03 (0)4) 1)47 (14)2) 0)9 (12) 0)23 (3)0) 0)03 (0)3) 0)64 (8)7) 0)4 (5) 0)22 (2)7) 0)03 (0)4) 1)15 (1)9) P, kg P/t 0)1 (8) 0 (0) 0)01 (0)7) 0)09 (6)3) !0)11 (!10) 0 (0) 0)01 (0)8) !0)12 (!10)8) !0)03 (2) 0 (0) 0)01 (0)7) !0)01 (!2)7) C, kg C/t 81 (46) 17 (10) N.D. 64 (36) 68 (43) 20 (12) N.D. 48 (31) 75 (44) 32 (19) N.D. 43 (25) Dry matter, kg DM/t 182 (43)

Compressed

148 (39)

Mixed

161 (39)

* Di!erence in the amount of components in the deep litter before and after composting; DM, dry matter.

nitrogen are very low ((0)5%) and gaseous emissions of NH and N are lower than those from solid manure.   Reducing the period with composting and high temperature and mixing the deep litter once during storage reduced the gaseous emission of N in this study. Dry matter loss during eight months of storage was between 39 and 43%, most of this loss was caused by transformation of organic C to CO and the emission of the latter.  Emission of the greenhouse gases N O and CH was   low, and leaching losses of total N, NO\, NH> and P   negligible.

References
Andersen J; Sommer S G; Hutchings N J; Kristensen V F; Poulsen H D (1999). Emission of ammonia from agriculture * status and sources (in Danish). Ministeriet for F+devarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri, Danmarks JordbrugsForskning, pp 60 Czepiel P; Douglas E; Harriss R; Crill P (1996). Measurements of N O from composted organic wastes. Environmental  Science and Technology, 30, 2519}2525 Dewes T; Schmitt L; Valentin U; Ahrens E (1990). Nitrogen losses during the storage of liquid livestock manures. Biological Wastes, 31, 241}250 Eghball B; Power J F; Gilley J E; Doran J W (1997). Nutrient, carbon, and mass loss during composting of beef cattle feedlot manure. Journal of Environmental Quality, 26, 189}193 Ferm M (1979). Method for determination of atmospheric ammonia. Atmospheric Environment, 13, 1385}1393 Hellmann B; Zelles L; Paloja K rvi A; Bai Q (1997). Emission of climate-relevant trace gases and succession of microbial communities during open-windrow composting. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 63, 1011}1018 Husted S (1994). Seasonal variation in methane emission from stored slurry and solid manures. Journal of Environtal Quality, 23, 585}592 Karlsson S; Jeppson K-H (1995). Djupstro K ba K dd i stall och mellanlager [Deep Litter in Livestock Buildings and Field Storage, Legends and Summaries in English]. JTI Rapport 204, Swedish Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Ultuna Uppsala, S Kirchmann H (1985). Losses, plant uptake and utilisation of manure nitrogen during a production cycle. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Supplement, 24 Knuth K (1969). Nitrogen-cycle ecology of solid waste composting. Development in Industrial Microbiology, 11, 387}395

Table 4 Dry matter lost during composting of deep litter from September 1997 to April 1998, calculated by Eqn (3) using the measured quantity of deep litter and DM concentration initially and at the end of the storage period; and by Eqn (4) assuming that the content of either ash or phosphorous in the deep litter initially are similar to the content in the compost after the storage period Treatment Loss of dry matter, kg DM/t (% of initial amount) By weight Untreated Compressed Mixed 181 148 160 By ash concentration 136 166 146 By phosphorous concentration 159 167 165

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Lammers P S; Ro K mer G; Boeker P (1997). Amount and limitation of ammonia emission from stored solid manure. In: Ammonia and Odour Control from Animal Production Facilities (Voermans JA M; Monteny G eds), pp 43}48, Proceedings distributed by NVTL Rosmalen, NL Martin O; Dewes T (1992). Loss of nitrogenous compounds during composting of animal wastes. Bioresource Technology, 42, 103}111

Petersen S O; Lind A-M; Sommer S G (1998) Nitrogen and organic matter losses during storage of cattle and pig manure. Journal of Agricultural Science Cambridge, 130, 69}79. Poulsen H D; Kristensen V F (1998). Standard values for farm manure. DIAS report No. 7, Beretning no. 736, pp 160 Sibbesen E; Lind A M (1993). Loss of nitrous oxide from animal manure in dungheaps. Acta Agricultura Scandinavia, Section B, Soil Plant Science, 43, 16}20