Halftime seminar: Increased nitrogen efficiency from cattle slurry

Opponent: Professor Thomas Kätterer, Department of Ecology, SLU

Chairperson: Elsa Arrazola

Pedagogic reviewer: Sandra Wolters

Zoom link: Meeting ID: 697 3557 0965, Passcode: 595751

Time: 13.30-14.30

Abstract

Can solid/liquid separation or anaerobic digestion of cattle slurry increase the nitrogen use efficiency in crop production? How does slurry C/N ratio and the type of bedding material added to the slurry affect N turnover and crop N uptake? And how effective is slurry acidification and shallow soil incorporation in reducing the ammonia emissions after slurry spreading? These are some of the questions I will address at my halftime seminar, where I will present results from both field- and lab experiments.

Animal slurry contains plant nutrients such as N, which are essential for crop production, but can also cause environmental problems through e.g. ammonia losses. In my PhD project, I’m looking at different ways to increase the nitrogen efficiency, by treatments focused on reducing the carbon content of cattle slurry and by reducing ammonia emissions after land application.