From the USDA, via Eurekalert. The goal was quantifying the moo. Next step, regulation. Hello $10/gallon milk.
In the first detailed study on emissions from large-scale dairies, ARS researchers found that a commercial dairy with 10,000 milk cows generated an average of 3,575 pounds of ammonia, 33,092 pounds of methane, and 409 pounds of nitrous oxide every day>
How Dairy Farms Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By Ann Perry
July 19, 2011
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have produced the first detailed data on how large-scale dairy facilities contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases. This research was conducted by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory in Kimberly, Idaho.
ARS is USDA’s principal intramural scientific research agency, and these studies support the USDA priority of responding to climate change.
ARS soil scientist April Leytem led the year-long project, which involved monitoring the emissions of ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from a commercial dairy with 10,000 milk cows in southern Idaho. The facility had 20 open-lot pens, two milking parlors, a hospital barn, a maternity barn, a manure solid separator, a 25-acre wastewater storage pond and a 25-acre compost yard.
Concentration data was collected continuously for two to three days each month, along with air temperature, barometric pressure, wind direction and wind speed. After this data was collected, Leytem’s team calculated the average daily emissions for each source area for each month.
The results indicated that, on average, the facility generated 3,575 pounds of ammonia, 33,092 pounds of methane and 409 pounds of nitrous oxide every day. The open lot areas generated 78 percent of the facility’s ammonia, 57 percent of its nitrous oxide and 74 percent of the facility’s methane emissions during the spring.
In general, the emission of ammonia and nitrous oxide from the open lots were lower during the late evening and early morning, and then increased throughout the day to peak late in the day. These daily fluctuations paralleled patterns in wind speed, air temperature and livestock activity, all of which generally increased during the day. Emissions of ammonia and methane from the wastewater pond and the compost were also lower in the late evening and early morning and increased during the day.
Results from the study were published in the Journal of Environmental Quality.
Read more about this work in the July 2011 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
Curious, one wonders how you measured all these emissions from an open-air feedlot. Especially when the wind was blowing. And, if they only measured for 2-3 days out of a month, how do they know for certain what the diurnal cycle of production is? How do they know for certain what the yearly stratification is if they don’t even have a weekly analysis?
Seems to me, the only real way to accomplish this is to attain a baseline reading from an enclosed storage\handling facility. Place 100 cows inside for a year. Collect all of the air analysis through an pumped air analyzer. Then extrapolate or condense as the heart desires. But, then of course, you lose any sort of ecological benefit of weather.
Didn’t we already have a study like this when they stuck a cow full of tubes and air hoses?!?!
So, they are adding up the compost yard, the storage pond, etc and dividing by the number of cows? hmmmmmmm. what about those cows that die mid-season? Or are sold and not replaced?
Has anyone analyzed the gaseous emissions from deer or elk or mountain goats? How about wild pigs?
Udder nonsense!
Products made from cows:
Any amount of medicinal applications from insulin to gelatin pill capsules and medical sutures for surgery. Food apart from the obvious meat cuts:- milk, cheese yogurt, icecream, chewing gum, cake mixes, coffee whiteners, marshmallow, sausage casings, candy, flavorings, mayonnaise.Non food: adhesives, buttons, cosmetics specialty plastics, fabric printing and dyeing, minerals, diagnostic microbiology, pencils, bone handles and jewelry, fertilizer, buttons, bone china, water filters, bandage strips, collagen cold cream, cellophane wrap, crochet needles, dog biscuits, photographic film, shampoo and conditioner, wallpaper paste, syringes, biodiesel, crayons deodorants, detergents, explosives, floor wax, antifreeze, insecticides, linoleum, matches, paints, perfumes, shoe cream, water proofing agents, air filters, paint brushes, belts, leather goods, luggage, chessmen, combs, piano keys, tennis racquet strings
Just a fraction of things made from cows, taken from this list: http://www.rense.com/general6/cow.htm
And youre worried about $10 milk !!!
In 1994 a dairy farm with 270 cows and a $280,000 methane digester system (receives matching funds from the California Energy Commission) switched on a 75-kilowatt generator that powers the dairy farm, organic creamery, and his electric car. The meter spins backward as excess electricity is fed back to the grid.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-05-14/bay-area/17426549_1_methane-metering-straus-farms
3.3 lbs of methane per cow.
That is nearly 68 standard cubic feet of gas per cow per day.
Seems a bit out of line.
Nitrogen cycle? Carbon cycle? Remember the buffalo once numbered in the millions. One herd could take several days to pass by. How does dairy cattle waste production compare to pre-columbian buffalo? And what quantities of ammonia and methane did mammoths produce? These products are all natural. We see solid evidence here that the regulators have run out of important work to do and they should be scaled back or shut down.
What is the problem with ammonia and CH4? Nothing in the air. There is not enough ammonia to matter compared with nitrogen fixation. Methane oxidizes to CO2 (OMG, the horror!). Ammonia and nitrates (oxidized ammonia) entering groundwater and surface water is more of a concern. That’s just a containment issue. Spread more evenly on the ground, and you have a nice fertilizer. Should help grow more alfalfa to support more cows.
This report is just more garbage science to justify growing government. These agencies need to shift to maintenance mode, and stop trying to carve out more territory to regulate. When business is choked to death, there won’t be any funding. Oh, but then we can just print more money to run government. All of this mismanagement starts at the top. Unfortunately, these goofballs believe more government is always better. We pay for this bloated bureaucratic monstrosity, and the mess always falls on us to fix. Govenment can never actually solve a problem, or funding ends.
Mark Reau says:
“…receives matching funds from the California Energy Commission… The meter spins backward as excess electricity is fed back to the grid.”
Do you think that subsidy should be eliminated?
NoAstronomer says:
July 19, 2011 at 10:03 am
@Steve “The real issue here is they don’t like the idea of anyone eating meat.”
Steve, this is a DAIRY farm.
Where do you think your Micky D burgers come from? Why is it so cheap? Old dairy cattle have to go somewhere. You’re eating Granny Bossie.
Do the massive herds of animals in Africa emit anything?
I’ve repeatedly suggested building digesters for the methane and ammonia in the local area. The initial outlay would be high, but the digested materials (fertilizer) as well as the methane and ammonia could be used directly. Also tends to work even better if you add cellulose to the mix to allow the bacteria to eat the ammonia more efficiently. (old paper, straw, sawdust, etc)
Win-win, and you end up with a great deal of usable natural gas, and less odor in general.
@ur momisugly Smokey
Eliminated, no. Expanded, maybe.
Government Regulations-
What freedoms are you NOT willing to lose before you take a stand?
Mark Reau,
You want to continue to give taxpayer subsidies when the meter is spinning backward?? How do you feel about oil company subsidies?
And mow much co2 do the cows and their food crop “sequest” during the cows lifetime? Probably the same amount making it neutral, as the cycle uses current co2, the cow farts are not fuelled by fossil fuels that are not part of the current co2 cycle. This is just another hack piece by greens wanting to stop americans eating beef! Why dont they also look at the amonia and methane a person produces in a day (including vegetarians / vegans) and then try and outlaw humans from existing also.
I’m lactose intolerant so don’t blame me.
NoAstronomer says:
July 19, 2011 at 10:03 am
“@Steve “The real issue here is they don’t like the idea of anyone eating meat.”
“Steve, this is a DAIRY farm.”
Mike,
What do you think happens to dairy cows, when they get a bit older and their milk production begins to fall off? They are not retired or ‘put out to pasture’. Just like ‘over the hill’ bulls, they get fed up a bit and turned into hamburger. It is reasonable to speculate that PETA or other dietary bias groups that fail to embrace omnivore diversity could be involved…. quite reasonable.
Hoser: Where do you think your Micky D burgers come from? Why is it so cheap? Old dairy cattle have to go somewhere. You’re eating Granny Bossie.
Read somewhere that Holsteins make bad beef. Didn’t believe it, so I bought a day-old calf and raised it to maturity. Had it slaughtered and frozen. Cooked some and became a believer. (Most of it then went for dog food.) Hoser, you should listen to the farmers. Bossie doesn’t go to McDonalds.
So too, it seems, is the all green, all the time CAGW movement.
This is a potentially serious threat to the economy of my country (New Zealand). Although our population is small (4m) we account for some 25% of the world’s dairy exports.
The US is a difficult trading partner for agricultural produce, with barriers of different kinds. The result, unsurprisingly, is less choice and lower quality for the American eater.
juanslayton says:
July 19, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Hoser: Where do you think your Micky D burgers come from? Why is it so cheap? Old dairy cattle have to go somewhere. You’re eating Granny Bossie.
Read somewhere that Holsteins make bad beef. Didn’t believe it, so I bought a day-old calf and raised it to maturity. Had it slaughtered and frozen. Cooked some and became a believer. (Most of it then went for dog food.) Hoser, you should listen to the farmers. Bossie doesn’t go to McDonalds.
***************
I claim no expertise in the matter, but I understand some breeds (e.g. Friesian) are good for both milk and meat. And surely most male calves are raised for meat and slaughtered young (except for the studs)?
I milked cows until I left home for college. Raw milk is a separate target for the green doogooders. Raw milk consumers have lower rates of lactose intolerance, allergies and lower rates of diabetes. About 5 years ago I saw some numbers on a PEtA site in the millions in regards to manure when in my head, the same operation was more likely to produce only thousands pounds and consume only thousands of gallons of water over the same time period. The numbers on manure output and water consumption were totally false. I also saw manure for fertilizer for organic farms. Dairy is a great industry and beneficial for nutrition. The extremists are attacking livestock from many diferent angles. (see the story of the feedlot in Australia)
When you have political attacks on an industry, you will usually find a lot of false data.
Myron Mesecke
July 19, 2011 at 12:30 pm
I’m lactose intolerant so don’t blame me.
###
I’m lactose intolerant also, so I’m always blamed, even if it wasn’t me 🙁
Bossie also doesn’t disappear without a trace. Nothing is wasted. Google “cull cattle” for a good education in commercial animal production.
@ur momisugly Smokey
The meter spinning backwards indicates more electricity produced than used. The excess is fed back to the grid. This subsidy was meant to reduce brown-outs and black-outs. How much electricity is provided by the manure of 270 cows, I have no idea. The Straus farm website gives no data on that. The post above references a dairy farm with 10,000 cows, probably a bit more electricity available to the grid. While there are 1,950 commercial dairies in operation in California and nearly 2 million dairy cows, probably alot more electricity to the grid. If the cost of coal or nuclear generation of electricity is equal to or less than the investment on methane digestion then scrap it, If the methane digestion is cheaper then run with it.
They are systematically attacking every source of support that humankind has. Food, energy, housing, and I am sure they are going to condemn us for all the esters we kill making our clothes from polyester. In short, those who cannot see that at least the end result of their actions (if not their actual intent) is genocide of the human species are indeed myopic.