Spatial Distribution of Ammonia Concentrations and Modeled Dry Deposition in an Intensive Dairy Production Region.

Agriculture generates ~83% of total US ammonia (NH) emissions, potentially adversely impacting sensitive ecosystems through wet and dry deposition. Regions with intense livestock production, such as the dairy region of south-central Idaho, generate hotspots of NH emissions. Our objective was to measure the spatial and temporal variability of NH across this region and estimate its dry deposition.

National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Potential from Adopting Anaerobic Digestion on Large-Scale Dairy Farms in the United States.

Waste-to-energy systems can provide a functional demonstration of the economic and environmental benefits of circularity, innovation, and reimagining existing systems. This study offers a robust quantification of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction potential of the adoption of anaerobic digestion (AD) technology on applicable large-scale dairy farms in the contiguous United States. GHG reduction estimates were developed through a robust life cycle modeling framework paired with sensitivity and uncertainty analyses.

Long-term dairy manure amendment promotes legacy phosphorus buildup and mobility in calcareous soils.

Continuous application of dairy manure to soils can lead to excessive phosphorus (P) accumulation (legacy P), which requires understanding for managing nutrient availability and leaching. This study was conducted in Kimberly, ID, where dairy manure or conventional fertilizer was applied to calcareous soil plots under continuous crop rotations for 8 years (2013-2020), followed by 2 years with no amendment. To understand legacy P behavior in the soils, total P, organic/inorganic P, and plant-available Olsen bicarbonate P and Truog extraction measurements were made from surface and subsurface samples.

Fifty years of environmental progress for United States dairy farms.

Dairy farms in the United States have changed in many ways over the past 50 yr. Milk production efficiency has increased greatly, with ∼30% fewer cows producing about twice the amount of milk today. Other improvements include increases in crop yields, fuel efficiency of farm equipment, and efficiency in producing most resources used on farms (e.

Uncertainty in phosphorus fluxes and budgets across the US long-term agroecosystem research network.

Phosphorus (P) budgets can be useful tools for understanding nutrient cycling and quantifying the effectiveness of nutrient management planning and policies; however, uncertainties in agricultural nutrient budgets are not often quantitatively assessed. The objective of this study was to evaluate uncertainty in P fluxes (fertilizer/manure application, atmospheric deposition, irrigation, crop removal, surface runoff, and leachate) and the propagation of these uncertainties to annual P budgets. Data from 56 cropping systems in the P-FLUX database, which spans diverse rotations and landscapes across the United States and Canada, were evaluated.