Ammonia emission after slurry application to grassland in Switzerland

Loss of ammonia (NH3) after field application of livestock slurry contributes between 30% and 50% of agricultural NH3 emissions from European countries. The objectives of this study were to re-evaluate NH3 emissions following application of cattle and pig slurry to grassland in Switzerland and to investigate the effectiveness of abatement techniques. In 17 field experiments, NH3 emissions were determined with a micrometeorological approach, relating the emission to the measured concentration by means of atmospheric dispersion modelling. The cattle slurry applied exhibited an average dry matter content of 3.3% (range between 1.0% and 6.7% dry matter). The emission after application of cattle slurry spread with a splash plate (referred to as reference technique) ranged from 10% to 47% of applied Total Ammoniacal Nitrogen (% of TAN) and averaged to 25% of TAN. This range of losses is lower by approx. a factor of two compared to measurements from earlier Swiss experiments. Applications with trailing hose and trailing shoe systems yielded an average reduction of 51% and 53%, respectively, relative to the reference technique. A regression analysis showed that the dry matter content of the slurry and the air temperature are important drivers for NH3 emission.