Reducing ammonia emissions in UK dairy housing

Nitrogen is a key component of ammonia. Find out how to control the release of nitrogen from manures in livestock housing and slurry stores so that more can be retained as valuable fertiliser.

Cattle slurry and farmyard manure (FYM) are made up of Organic N and Ammonium N, which are commonly referred to as readily available nitrogen. Nitrogen in manure is readily available to crops when spread onto land.

The higher the percentage of Total Ammonium N (TAN) the manure contains, the higher the potential of ammonia loss.

Cattle slurry, and the liquid portion of separated cattle slurry, have a high TAN % (typically greater than 30%), so there are high potential ammonia losses compared with cattle FYM, which typically has a 10–15 TAN % depending on the manure to straw ratio.  

The table below shows the key factors that increase or decrease ammonia loss from manures.

Carefully managing manures can improve ammonium nitrogen retention and reduce reliance on manufactured fertiliser. 

The techniques that can be used to reduce NH₃ emissions from cattle housing are explored below.

Reducing the housed period of cattle and regular removal of manure can both have a positive impact on ammonia emissions.

From automatic floor scrapers to floor construction, find out how different flooring types and systems can reduce ammonia emissions.

Ammonia emissions can be reduced from cattle housing by addressing slurry pH and temperature, utilising loose housing, scraping and flushing systems, and more.

Read our emission factors data for livestock, manure storage and land spreading, dairy cow housing, and see a comparison with the Netherlands.