Manure fertilisers

An unusual example of a process that produces a lot of waste is the intensive rearing of pigs. They need additional phosphorus in their feed for healthy growth, and this is usually added as inorganic phosphorus in the form of monocalcium phosphate (calcium dihydroxy-oxido-oxo-phosphorane). Unabsorbed phosphorus passes through into the manure, and if spread onto fields as a fertiliser can lead to excess phosphorus run-off into rivers and lakes leading to eutrophication. 

The organic farmer needs all the farmyard manure that his animals produce it is a valuable commodity for maintaining the fertility of his land, it is free and he cannot use most of the faster acting artificial fertilisers. 

In Switzerland, it was found that over a period of 6 years, the capacity of the soil in the plots fertilised with organic cattle manure to supply N to plants was greatly increased compared to soils which had been fertilised with artificial fertilisers (Langmeier, et al., 2000). 

Langmeier, M., Oberson, A., Dubois, D., Mader, P. Frossard, E. (2000) N fertiliser efficiency of cattle manure. Part 2 Influence of farming system. Proceedings of the 13th International IFOAM Scientif ic Conference, Basel, Switzerland, p. 82. 

By housing cattle overwinter and composting the farmyard manure, the organic farmer has ready access to a balanced fertiliser that can be spread where most required. The grazing animal does not actually import fertility onto the farm but it does recycle nutrients where it grazes and provides a source of manure when housed. This is as true of sheep, pigs and poultry as of cattle. The only problem with outdoor pigs is that they tend to rip up pastures. 

The answer to the absence of fast-acting nitrogen fertilisers, with arable crops and grassland, has been threefold first, to make much greater use of farmyard manure, and to make sure that it is properly stored and not allowed either to be washed down the drains or to volatilise into the air second, to make much greater use of the legume for its power of nitrogen fixation, particularly white and red clover... 

Pigeon (adult) Manure-fertilised millet supplement versus chemically fertilised millet supplement Less weight loss (22.4% versus 37.4%) over the study period for birds fed manure-fertilised millet. Longer survival (50 versus 33 days) in birds with polyneuritis fed the manure-fertilised millet (McCarrrison, 1926)... 

Rat Manure-fertilised millet supplement versus chemically fertilised millet supplement Rats fed manure-fertilised wheat gained on average 10-17% more weight (McCarrrison, 1926)... 

Rat Manure-fertilized seed versus chemically fertilised seed Greater weight gain in vitamin B-deficient rats fed manure-fertilised seed (Rowlands and Wilkinson, 1930)... 

Mice Manure-fertilised wheat versus conventional feed Less testes degeneration and similar reproductive performance in mice fed manure-fertilised wheat. (Scott et aL, 1960)... 

Table 19.4 Critical control points for HACCP-based minimisation of pathogen transfer risk associated with the use of manure-based fertilisers (Haward and Leifert, 1999)...

Normal agricultural practices generally cause an enrichment of heavy metals in soil, particularly Zn, Cu and Cd, due to the application of manure or its derivatives, compost or sludge and inorganic fertilisers and other human activities such as... 

Poultry manure has frequently been found to increase yields of pastures and crops and is a valued organic fertiliser used by horticulturalists and dairy farmers. However, when this has been applied at high rates (more than about 18t/ha), there are reports of damage to crops and pasture. 

DAM KOFOED, A. (1980). Water pollution caused by run-off of manure and fertiliser. In Nitrogen losses and surface run-off from landspreading of manures. Brogan, J C (ed) Nijhoff/Junk, The Hague, 1981 70-75. 

N2O contributes to the greenhouse effect with 4% (Schonwiese 1995). N2O emissions from agriculture come from mineral and organic N-fertilisers and from leguminous crops. The emission levels depend on the kind of fertiliser and on the application technique. The N2O emission factors for the most frequently applied forms of mineral N-fertilisers are < 0.5%, for organic manure 1.0 - 1.8% and for N from legumes, about 1% of the fixation rate. 

Soil surface balance measures the differences between the input or application of nutrients entering the soil (e.g. mineral fertilisers or organic manure) and the output or withdrawal of nutrients from harvested and fodder crops. Farm gate balances measure the nutrient input on the basis of the nutrient contents of purchased material (e.g. concentrates, fertilisers, fodder, livestock, biological N-fixation) and farm sales such as meat, milk, fodder, cereals (OECD 1997). 

Conventional arable (synthetic fertiliser), organic arable (green manures) and organic mixed (green manure and manure) over 15 years. 

Available P was adequate but decreased in all except the synthetic fertiliser treatment. The average P budgets (kg P ha y ) were 3.8 for synthetic fertilisers only, -5.0 for synthetic fertilisers and manure, -S.7 for organic and -7.8 for biodynamic (Oehl et al. 2002). 

The cultivation of crops that are not devoted to selling or feeding purposes is commonly understood as green manuring. Older definitions focused more on the fertilising aspects that were achieved by incorporation of crops in an immature stage. More recent understandings... 

Edmeades, D.C. 2003. The long-term effects of manures and fertilisers on soil productivity and quality, a review. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 66(2) 165-180. 

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