SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: NE1544 : Dairy Production systems: C,N, and P management for production, profitability and the environment.
- Period Covered: 11/01/2016 to 10/31/2017
- Date of Report: 02/22/2018
- Annual Meeting Dates: 11/08/2017 to 11/10/2017
Participants
Al Rotz - USDA ARS _ Penn State Joe Harrison - Washington State University Rhonda Miller - Utah State University Mie Westendorf - Rutgers (via phone) Steven Smith - NIFA (via phone) Heather Karsten - Penn State University (guest}
Accomplishments
Wisconsin – Combs - Our lab has developed an in vitro method that will predict animal performance from in vitro measurements of kd and pdNDF in forages. The method is calibrated to NIRS and could be used to quickly screen forage lines for these traits. The UW Silage Breeding and Biofeedstock Breeding Program evaluates the nutritive value of inbred lines of corn silage by several measures: NDF, starch, protein, in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) and in vitro NDF digestibility (IVNDFD). Fiber quality is measured as IVNDFD but this assay is not a very precise predictor of animal performance. We've developed a forage evaluation system (TTNDFD: Total Tract NDF Digestibility) that predicts NDF digestion in high producing dairy cows and we hypothesize that this new method is better predictor of fiber digestibility and therefore feed efficiency, than IVTD or IVNDFD. The TTNDFD model accounts for two plant characteristics that affect digestion of NDF in ruminants: 1. The rate of digestion of potentially digestible NDF (kd), 2.
Wisconsin – Wattiaux - Alfalfa for silage (AS), corn for silage (CS), corn grain (CG) and soybeans (SB, eventually solvent-extracted into soybean meal, SBM) were enriched in the field with fertilizers containing the stable isotope 15N. Each 15N-labeled diet component was fed individually to twelve mid-lactation cows (3 cows per 15N-enriched diet component) as part of a total mixed ration (TMR). Proportions of each component's 15N intake (15NI) recovered in milk, feces, fecal undigested dietary N, urine, urinary urea and retained by cows were determined during a 4- day 15N feeding period and 4 days thereafter. Diet component 15N manure was applied to field plots and 15N uptake by corn for silage was determined over two succeeding years. The wide range in total 15N recoveries (% 15NI), greatest from cows fed AS (67) followed by CS (61), SBM (61) and CG (54) indicate significant differences in diet component 15N retention by cows. Relative 15N recoveries (% of total 15N recovered) in milk were greater (and statistically similar) from cows fed CG and SBM (average of 29.2) than from cows fed AS and CS (also statistically similar, average of 18.4). Relative 15N recoveries in feces were greater (and statistically similar) from cows fed AS and CS (average of 42.2) than from cows fed CG and SBM (also statistically similar, average of 30.7), and 15N recoveries as fecal undigested dietary N were greatest from cows fed CG (2.5) followed by AS and CS (average of 2.2) and SBM (<1). Relative 15N recoveries in urine (average of 39.7) and urinary urea (average 34.0) were similar across all diet components. Over the 2-year field study period, greatest manure 15NUE (% of applied manure 15N recovered as corn silage 15N) was obtained in plots amended with manure 15N derived from SBM (38.2) and lowest from CS (30.5). The greater total N use efficiency (percent N inputs incorporated into milk N plus corn silage N) for SBM (68.3) and AS (51.5) than for CG (47.4) and CS (40.6) can be attributed mostly to differences in N use efficiencies of the biologically-fixed-N and fertilizer N to grow diet components.
Penn State – Al Rotz – In collaboration with climate scientists at Texas Tech University, whole farm and global climate models were linked to provide an analysis of the benefits and costs of greenhouse gas mitigation and the strategic management changes required to adapt farms to future climate. Strategies are available for reducing farm emissions, but they must be cost effective for the producer to maintain sustainable production systems. To maintain sustainable systems in the future, adjustments in farm management are required to adapt to expected changes in climate, and these integrated models provide a means for predicting and assessing adaptation strategies. Researchers at University Park, PA, in collaboration with scientists at the University of California, Davis, developed, evaluated and documented a model for simulating and predicting VOC emissions from silage, which was incorporated into USDA’s Integrated Farm System Model. The USDA’s Integrated Farm System Model, a whole-farm model of beef cattle and dairy production systems, was expanded by adding a component that predicts important carbon and nitrogen gas emissions produced during composting and the remaining nutrients in the composted manure.
Utah – Rhonda Miller - To document the effects of tannins and carbohydrates on nutrient cycling, determination of the nutrients in each phase (plant, soil, and soil water) were made. Plant samples were collected before and after each grazing event. Soil samples were collected in the fall at the beginning of the study for a baseline reading. Soil samples were collected in the spring, prior to grazing, and in the fall after the growing season using a Giddings® soil extraction instrument to a depth of 1.524 meters. Soil samples were also be collected in the spring of the third year to monitor nutrient movement. Four soil cores were taken in each plot and divided into three subsamples; 0-30.48 cm, 30.48-60.96 cm, 60.96-152.40 cm. Composite soil subsamples were analyzed for available nitrogen (ammonia and nitrate) and for total N.
Soil water (leachate) nitrogen was monitored by means of zero-tension lysimeters that were previously installed at this location. Leachate was collected every two weeks during the growing season, and as close as possible to every two weeks during the winter months from zero-tension lysimeters. Suction cup lysimeters (60 cm deep) were installed in each plot, with samples being collected weekly by suction cup lysimeters. All leachate samples were analyzed for nitrate-nitrite.
A mass balance approach comparing total nitrogen outputs against total nitrogen inputs for each treatment will be utilized to estimate losses due to volatilization. Data will be analyzed using SAS PROC Mixed with Repeated Measures.
Washington – Joe Harrison - Since the fall of 2016, our research program has published feeding and field studies related to the efficiency of nutrient use by animals and efficiency of nutrient use of manure by crops. 1) Feeding of potassium carbonate sesquihydarate to the
lactating cow can have rather immediate effects on increased production of milk fat. The effect of potassium supplementation seems to be accomplished via change in the metabolism of fatty acids in the rumen by microbes. 2) A field study demonstrated the impact of varying levels of manure nutrient application and soil tillage on amounts of nitrate in soil that is at
risk of leaching to shallow ground water.
Impacts
- Wisconsin – Combs - The rate and extent of NDF digestion are heavily influenced by the genetics and growing environment of the plant and we propose that we can select corn silages that will be more efficiently utilized by dairy cattle by identifying these characteristics in inbred lines of forage corn. In the first year of this project we searched the UW Silage Breeding and Biofeedstock Breeding Program Data base to identify corn forages that differ in rate and extent of NDF digestion. We have identified approximately 150 inbred lines of corn forages that differ in rate and extent of NDF digestion for further characterization and analysis in the coming year.
- Wisconsin – Wattiaux - A balance between corn, alfalfa and soybeans in dairy cropping systems should be encouraged to not only enhance N use efficiency in feed and milk production and manure N recycling, but also to capture many of the long-term benefits associated with corn-legume rotations.
- management are required to adapt to expected changes in climate, and these integrated models provide a means for predicting and assessing adaptation strategies. Simulation of a California dairy farm showed that most VOC emissions were from feed lying in feed lanes, indicating that strategies to reduce VOC emissions during feeding will be most effective in mitigating overall farm emissions. The revised farm model provides a tool for evaluating the effects of manure management practices and climate on the gaseous emissions produced during composting, along with long-term performance, economics, and overall environmental impacts of dairy and beef production systems using this technology.
- Utah – Rhonda Miller - Approximately 85% of the nitrogen (N) ingested by animals is returned to the pasture as urine and feces; yet, only 10% of the total paddock receives urine and feces deposits (White et al., 2001). This uneven distribution can greatly increase the potential for nitrogen loss as nearly 80% of the N excreted is in the form of urea, which either rapidly converts to ammonia or is converted to nitrate. Soils where cattle have urinated may contain the equivalent of up to 1000 kg N/ha applied as a single application, which is greatly in excess of the sward’s immediate requirement (Haynes and Williams, 1993). Both the quantity of nitrogen (which greatly exceeds plant needs) and the form of nitrogen (nitrates are highly mobile and leach) can result in nitrates readily moving past the root zone and into the groundwater. Ammonia reacts with NOX and forms PM2.5 a source of atmospheric haze and a human health concern. From the producer's standpoint, this loss of N is also an economical issue, especially in a forage grass system. Tannins have the potential to improve N utilization in the animal, and shift excreted nitrogen from the urine to the feces, thereby reducing some of the environmental impacts of grazing systems (Misselbrook et al., 2005; Slisinski et al., 2004). Tannins are present in some forages such as birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). The impact of tannins on the distribution of N in both the urine and the feces will be measured.
- Washington – Joe Harrison - Nutrient management to target nitrogen application to approximate nitrogen uptake by crops, avoiding fall applications of manure nutrients, and maximizing the years between tillage events can all minimize the risk of nitrate movement to shallow ground water.
Publications
Cook, D. E., M.B. Hall, P. Doane, M. Cecava and D.K. Combs. 2016. The effects on digestibility and ruminal measures of chemically treated corn stover as partial replacement for grain in dairy diets. J. Dairy Sci. 996343-6351.
Powell, J. M., T. Barros, M. Danes, M. Aguerre, M. Wattiaux, and K. Reed. (2017). Nitrogen use efficiencies to grow, feed, and recycle manure from the major diet components fed to dairy cows in the USA. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 239: 274-282.
Barros, T., M. J. Powell, M.A.C. Danes, M. J. Aguerre and M. A. Wattiaux. (2017). Relative partitioning of N from alfalfa silage, corn silage, corn grain and soybean meal into milk, urine, and feces, using stable 15N isotope. Animal Feed Science and Technology 229: 91-96.
Barros, T., M. A. Quaassdorff, M. J. Aguerre, J. J. Olmos-Colmenero, S. J. Bertics, P. M. Crump and M. A. Wattiaux (2017). Effects of dietary crude protein concentration on late-lactation dairy cow performance and indicators of nitrogen utilization. Journal of Dairy Science 100(7): 5434-5448.
Bonifacio, H.F., Rotz, C.A., Hafner, S., Montes, F., Cohen, M., Mitloehner, F. 2016. A process-based emission model for volatile organic compounds from silage sources on farms. Atmospheric Environment. 152:85-97.
Bonifacio, H.F., C.A. Rotz and T.L. Richard. 2017. A process-based model for cattle manure compost windrows: Part 1 – model description. Trans. ASABE 60(3):877-892.
Bonifacio, H.F., C.A. Rotz and T.L. Richard. 2017. A process-based model for cattle manure compost windrows: Part 2 – model performance and application. Trans. ASABE 60(3):893-913.
Duncan, E.W., P.J.A. Kleinman, D.B. Beegle, and C.A. Rotz. 2017. Coupling dairy manure storage with injection to improve nitrogen management: Whole-farm simulation using the Integrated Farm System Model. Agric. Environ. Letters 2:160048. doi:10.2134/ael2016.12.0048
Rotz, C.A., R.H. Skinner, A.M.K. Stoner, and K. Hayhoe. 2016. Evaluating greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation in dairy production using farm simulation. Trans. ASABE 59(6):1771-1781.
Rotz, C.A., R.H. Skinner, A.M.K. Stoner, and K. Hayhoe. 2016. Farm simulation can help dairy production systems adapt to climate change. In J. Hatfield and D. Fleisher. Advances in Agricultural Modeling, Vol. 7 pp 91-124. ASA-CSSA-SSA, Madison, WI.
Rotz, C.A. and G. Thoma. 2017. Assessing the carbon footprint of dairy production systems. p. 19-31, In D.K. Beede (ed). Large Dairy Herd Management, 3rd ed., Am. Dairy Sci. Assoc., Champaign, IL.
Veltman, K., C.D. Jones, R. Gaillard, S. Cela, L. Chase, B.D. Duval, R.C. Izaurralde, Q.M. Ketterings, C. Li, M. Matlock, A. Reddy, A. Rotz, W. Salas, P. Vadas, O. Jolliet. 2017. Comparison of process-based models to quantify nutrient flows and greenhouse gas emissions associated with milk production. Agric., Ecosys, Environ. 237:31-44.
Long, J., and R. Miller. 2017. Impact of tannins on nitrogen cycling and the potential to reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions. ASABE Presentation No. 1701035. St. Joseph, MI: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
Miller. R., J. Long, and M. Jensen. 2017. Impacts of tannins on nitrogen cycling and the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 2017. In 2017 Agronomy Abstracts. Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy.
Carey, B., Pitz, C., Harrison, J. H. (2017). Field nitrogen budgets and post-harvest soil nitrate as indicators of N leaching to groundwater in a Pacific Northwest dairy grass field. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 107(1), 107 - 123.
Neerackal, G., Ndegwa, P. M., Joo, H. S., Harrison, J. H. MANURE-pH management for mitigating ammonia emissions from dairy barns and liquid manure storages. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 33(2), 235-242.