Coming up for AIR: The fall of animal manure from the status of agrarian marvel, to what some consider public nuisance, can be laid at the feet of one simple principle - not enough air

摘要

Manure decomposition in a natural setting was, in days gone by, primarily an aerobic process. Today, we stockpile animal waste in such depth and quantity that it can be used only by anaerobic bacteria. The hitch? The chemical and biological output ofanaerobic decomposition is entirely different from aerobic decomposition. Because of the nature of the compounds produced by the two processes, it could be said aerobic is generally good, while anaerobic decomposition is mostly bad. It's a standard thatis especially apropos when we consider how these two methods of animal waste handling affect crops and soils.