Farm animal wastes

Smith, K.A., Unwin, R.J. and Williams, J.H. (1985) Experiments on the Fertilizer Value of Animal Waste Slurries, in Long Term Effects of Sewage Sludge and Farm Slurries Applications (eds. J.H.Williams, G.Gindi and P.D Hermite) Elsevier, London, pp. 124-135. 

The bio-gas project in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) first results of five full scale plants Farm experiments of anaerobic digestion to control odours from slurry Use of methanogenic fermentation to upgrade farm animal and slaughterhouse wastes Latest chemical slurry handling methods... 

Anaerobic thermophilic digestion of farm animal and slaughterhouse wastes were compared to each other especially from the bacteriological point of view. 

Waste heat from farming, animal manure, crop production, and municipal solid residues could also be used for power generation. 

Before the availability of artificial fertilizers in the mid-19th century, farms were traditionally organic, with recycling of animal waste, and perhaps with the application of lime on acid soils. Agricultural chemical analysis may have begun with Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786), the Swedish pharmacist who isolated citric acid from lemons and gooseberries and malic acid from apples. In France, Nicolas Theodore de Saussure (1767-1845) studied the mineral composition of plant ash, and in Britain, Sir Humphrey Davy... 

Phytase offers significant promise as a means to reduce phosphorus levels in animal waste by 30-35%, while also reducing the cost of phosphorus supplementation. The enzyme hydrolyzes phytate (myo-inositol hexakisphosphate), the primary storage form of phosphorus in plant seeds and pollen, in several steps into inositol and inorganic phosphorus, which is readily bioavailable to the farm animals. Phytases can also have non-specific phosphorus monoester activity. Addition of phytases to farm animals diets significantly enhances bioavailability of plant phosphorus for the animals while reducing phosphorus in the waste and simultaneously allowing a reduction of total phosphoms in the feed 500 units of phytase... 

Mother earth never attempts to farm without live stock, she always raises mixed crops great pains are taken to preserve the soil and to prevent erosion the mixed vegetable and animal wastes are converted into humus there is no waste the processes of growth and the processes of decay balance one another ample provision is made to maintain large reserves of fertility the greatest care is taken to store the rainfall both plants and animals are left to protect themselves against disease. 

Biomass is any material that is directly or indirectly derived from plant life and that is renewable in time periods of less than about 100 years. More conventional energy resources such as oil and coal are also derived from plant life but are not considered renewable. Typical biomass resources are energy crops, farm and agricultural wastes, and municipal wastes. Animal wastes are also biomass materials in that they are derived, either directly or via the food chain, from plants that have been consumed as food. 

Omoyinmi, G.A.K., Adebisi, A.A., and Fagade, S.O. 2004. Farm organic wastes in the production of animal protein. In Book of Abstract no. 46 of the 1st International Conference on Science and National Development, organized by Col. of Nat. Sci, UNAAB, from 25 to 28th October, 2004, p. 43. 

Many farmers use treated waste from sewage farms as a fertiliser. Some farmers use their own animal waste material to generate methane gas which can be used for domestic and farm heating supplies. Any solid material left is used as a fertiliser. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture s 1938 Yearbook of Agriculture contains these statements One billion tons of manure, the annual product of livestock on American farms, is capable of producing 3,000,000,000 worth of increase in crops. The potential value of this agricultural resource is three times that of the nation s wheat crop and equivalent to 440 for each of the country s 6,800,000 farm operators. Since then, animal wastes have been transformed from a definite asset to a liability. By 1965, the disposal of animal excreta had become a serious problem (American Chemical Society, 1969). At any given time, an estimated 11 million cattle were on feedlots, the capacities of which ranged from 1000 to 50,000 head. 

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