Quantifying greenhouse gas emission reduction potential of a novel manure additive

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Globally agriculture accounts for 12% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission largely from animal manure storage and soil application and the use of fertilizers. Nationally, emissions from manure and farmland soils makes up more than half of agriculture's 59 Mt carbon dioxide equivalents of annual GHG emission in Canada. Manure from livestock production, when land applied in appropriate amounts, can be an important resource for crop production, cycling key nutrients and providing organic matter to sustain soil health. Currently however, manure production, in many parts of the world far exceeds local land capacity, and has become a key environmental threat. The lower Fraser Valley region of British Columbia (BC) is an important example of nutrient over application because of its density of animal production and relatively small agricultural land base. Various commercial manure additives have been studied for their potential effect of changing manure composition and reducing GHG emission and odor but the results have been inconsistent. The Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes lab at University of British Columbia is collaborating with Ocion Water Sciences to evaluate the benefits of a novel manure additive they have developed. The project will quantify the GHG emission reduction potential of this product when used with dairy and poultry manure storage and land application under laboratory conditions. Results of this project will be used to identify the application rates required for meaningful GHG reduction.