There is worldwide interest in deriving increasing amounts of energy from bio-based agricultural materials including not only lignocellulosic residues but also a significant quantity of available livestock manure. This manure can be used as a feedstock for various thermochemical conversion processes such as pyrolysis and gasification. In order to apply these processes, the manure must be proper...

Biogas technology has been used quite extensively to generate renewable energy from organic wastes while also recycling nutrients in the wastes and reducing harmful emissions. However, the challenges of low biogas yield from recalcitrant and inhibitory solid wastes together with high construction and operation costs of bioreactors have impeded optimal performance through this process. Additiona...

The number of farm-based biogas plants in Austria increased rapidly in the recent past, a continuing interest in this technology is expected. A survey was carried out in 2002 to provide information for farmers and the decision makers involved. In most plants slurry and manure is co-digestion with energy crops and/or organic waste. Wet fermentation in mesophilic digesters with post-digesters com...

Shifts in manure phosphorus (P) chemical forms and pool sizes induced by water treatment residuals and industrial mineral by-products are largely undefined. We conducted a manure P fractionation study to determine mechanisms of reduction of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) in poultry manure upon mineral by-product additions. The effects of composting on the P immobilization efficacy of the b...

The amount of manure produced on dairy farms can affect the financial bottom line. Labor, equipment, and facilities are needed to move and store manure, all of which have a cost. Increased output of manure can represent losses in potentially digestible nutrients (increased feed costs). Lastly, the environmental impact of dairy farming is strongly related with the quantity and composition of man...

Introduction Application of livestock manure provides nutrients for crop production and can also improve soil quality. However, the availability of nutrients in manure is difficult to predict. Therefore, livestock manure is frequently under or over-applied with respect to crop nitrogen and phosphorus requirements. In cases where the availability of nutrients is less than expected, application r...

The introduction of ASABE Standard D384.2, Manure Production and Characteristics, has created the opportunity to integrate feed management decisions and animal performance measures into nutrient planning processes. This paper introduces a software tool that integrates estimates of nutrient excretion based on the new standard with estimates of land need, labor and equipment time allocation, and ...