Dairy farming contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions

Scientists working at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have published the first detailed data on dairy farms that contribute to large-scale greenhouse gas emissions.

The study was carried out by scientists working at the Northwest Soil and Irrigation Research Laboratory, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Kimberly, Idaho, USA.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the leading scientific research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, and this study receives the necessary support from the US Department of Agriculture in finding solutions. deal with climate change.

April Leytem, ​​a brothel, works at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), runs a one-year project to monitor greenhouse gas emissions including: ammonia (NH ₃ ), CO ₂ , methane (CH ₄ ) and Nitrogen Oxide, to produce commercial dairy products from 10,000 dairy cows in southern Idaho, USA. Facilities for a experimental farm include: 20 free grazing yards, 2 milking houses, 1 barn for cattle, 1 barn for dairy cows, 1 solid cow manure separator, 1 water reservoir discharged, 25 acres wide and 1 cow dung yard, 25 acres wide.

Dairy farming also contributes to global warming

Concentrated data is collected continuously for 2 to 3 days per month, along with air temperature, air pressure in barometer, wind direction and wind speed. After this data is collected, Leytem's team will calculate the average daily emissions for each region in each month.

The results indicated that, on average, each day the farm produced 1,619, 475 kg of ammonia, 14,490,676 kg of methane and 185,277 kg of nitrous oxide. Free grazing areas produce: 78% of the ammonia content of the experimental farm, 57% of nitrous oxide and 74% of the methane emissions of the experimental farm in the spring.

In general, emissions of ammonia and nitrous oxide from free grazing areas tend to be lower in the late evening and early morning, then increase throughout the day to reach the highest level at the end of the day . This daily fluctuation is paralleled in the pattern of wind speed, air temperature and cattle activity, generally increasing during the day. Emissions of ammonia and methane from wastewater and composting ponds are also low in the late afternoon and early morning and increase during the day.

The results of the study were published in the journal Environmental Quality .