In open beef feedlot systems, more than 50% of dietary nitrogen (N) is lost as ammonia (NH3). Here we report an effective and economically-viable method to mitigate NH3 emissions by the application of lignite. We constructed two cattle pens (20 × 20 m) to determine the effectiveness of lignite in reducing NH3 emissions. Twenty-four steers were fed identical commercial rations in each pen. The treatment pen surface was dressed with 4.5 kg m−2 lignite dry mass while no lignite was applied in the control pen. We measured volatilised NH3 concentrations using Ecotech EC9842 NH3 analysers in conjunction with a mass balance method to calculate NH3 fluxes. Application of lignite decreased NH3 loss from the pen by approximately 66%. The cumulative NH3 losses were 6.26 and 2.13 kg N head−1 in the control and lignite treatment, respectively. In addition to the environmental benefits of reduced NH3 losses, the value of retained N nutrient in the lignite treated manure is more than $37 AUD head−1 yr−1, based on the current fertiliser cost and estimated cost of lignite application. We show that lignite application is a cost-effective method to reduce NH3 loss from cattle feedlots.
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机译：在开放式牛肉饲养场系统中，超过50％的饮食氮（N）作为氨（NH3）损失。在这里，我们报告了一种通过应用褐煤减轻NH3排放的有效且经济可行的方法。我们构造了两只牛栏（20××20μm）来确定褐煤在减少NH3排放方面的有效性。每只钢笔给二十四头ers牛饲喂相同的商业定量。处理笔表面用4.5 kg m −2 褐煤干物质包扎，而对照笔中未施用褐煤。我们使用Ecotech EC9842 NH3分析仪结合质量平衡方法测量了挥发的NH3浓度，以计算NH3通量。褐煤的应用减少了笔中的NH3损失约66％。在对照和褐煤处理中，累积的NH3损失分别为6.26和2.13 kg N head -1 。除减少NH3损失的环境效益外，褐煤处理过的肥料中残留的氮养分价值还超过$ 37 AUD head -1 yr -1 当前的化肥成本和褐煤应用成本估算。我们证明褐煤的应用是减少牛饲养场中NH3损失的一种经济有效的方法。
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