Effect of bedding application and air change rates on environmental ammonia concentrations for intensively housed beef cattle

I. N. Hanafi; L. A. Tait; F. C. Cowley; J. M. Morton; S. Creevey; J. Wilkes

doi:10.1071/AN23410

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Effect of bedding application and air change rates on environmental ammonia concentrations for intensively housed beef cattle

I. N. Hanafi

^A ^* , L. A. Tait ^A , F. C. Cowley

^A , J. M. Morton

^B , S. Creevey ^A and J. Wilkes ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.

^B Jemora Pty Ltd, East Geelong, Vic 3219, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: ifahanafi@gmail.com

Handling Editor: Alan Tilbrook

Animal Production Science 64, AN23410 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN23410

Submitted: 6 December 2023 Accepted: 23 September 2024 Published: 11 October 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Manure deposition during livestock export voyages contributes to air ammonia levels, potentially affecting human and animal health if not managed. Mitigation strategies may include increased air change rates and application of bedding.

Aim

This study examined the effect of bedding application rate (BAR) and air change rate (ACH) on air ammonia (NH₃) concentrations and pad properties, including pad surface condition, pH, moisture, and pad ammonium (NH₄⁺) concentrations, for intensively housed beef cattle.

Methods

Six 7-day runs were conducted with 72 Bos indicus cross steers (mean liveweight ± s.d. = 338 ± 32 kg) housed in respiration chambers by using a 3 × 3 factorial design. The BARs were set to 0%, 50%, and 100% of the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL), and ACH were varied at 20, 35, and 52. Air NH₃ was measured twice daily at three heights. Pad surface condition was collected with the first air NH₃ measurement. Video footage captured standing and lying behaviours for each steer. Pad samples were collected on the final day for pad chemical analysis.

Key results

The ACH of 20 changes per hour resulted in higher air NH₃ concentration than ACH of 35 and 52. Higher BAR led to lower pad pH and moisture, with slightly lower pad NH₄⁺ concentration in 100% and 50% BAR than 0% BAR. Although air NH₃ concentration on Day 7 was positively correlated with pad NH₄⁺ concentration, BAR had no marked effect on air NH₃ concentration (within the temperature range of this experiment). Drier and firmer pad surfaces were associated with each high BAR and high ACH. Moreover, high BAR increased the frequency of lying behaviour in steers.

Conclusions

These findings indicated that NH₃ can be mitigated by optimising air changes to minimise air NH₃ concentration and utilising bedding to minimise pad NH₄⁺. This offers practical solutions for intensively housed beef cattle, such as livestock export voyages to improve human and animal welfare onboard.

Implications

The study results emphasised the importance of optimising ACH to maintain low air NH₃ concentrations in livestock export conditions. Although there was no evidence that BAR affects air NH₃ directly, it reduced pad NH₄⁺ and improved pad conditions for overall animal comfort and environmental quality in confined housing with sufficient air changes.

Keywords: air change, ammonia, bedding, livestock export, pad condition, steers, ventilation.

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