Practice Abstract - Research and innovation

Technical solutions to mitigate ammonia emissions​

As dairy cows consume large amounts of nitrogen through proteins in their diets, a large amount is excreted in urine and feces. In manure, ammonia is formed by breaking down urea and is promoted by the amount of urea, temperature and the degree of mixing feces and urine. Depending on several factors, some of the ammonia formed is volatilized into the atmosphere. Gaseous ammonia in the atmosphere is undesirable, due to its negative influence on environmental and public health.​ Many mitigation practices have been identified to allow livestock systems to reduce ammonia emissions. These practices can be divided in four categories - keeping in mind, that some practices could fit in more categories. The following categories can be distinguished: 

1) Barn; Emission reduction by barn design or changes in barn setup​. 

2) Barn management; Emissions that apply to existing barn designs and require a level of monitoring and labour to function properly​. 

3) Manure; Emission reduction by managing or manipulating the manure.​ 4) Feed; Adaptations to feeding routine 

Source Project
Resilience for Dairy
Completed | 2021-2024
Main funding source
Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Geographical location
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain, Slovenia, Netherlands, Northern Ireland
Project details