Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) and Dairy Waste Stream Utilization: Properties and Economics of On-Farm Windrow Systems

Improper management of organic waste can lead to unnecessary carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and groundwater contamination. In this study, organic waste materials from two of New Mexico’s (U.S.A.) top agricultural industries, pecan (Carya illinoinensis) and dairy cattle dairy manure, were used...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2022-03, Vol.14 (5), p.2550
Main Authors: Creegan, Emily F., Flynn, Robert, Torell, Greg, Brewer, Catherine E., VanLeeuwen, Dawn, Acharya, Ram N., Heerema, Richard J., Darapuneni, Murali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural economics
Air pollution
Animal wastes
Biomass
Bulk density
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
Carbon sources
Carya illinoinensis
Cattle
Composting
Composts
Costs
Dairy cattle
Dairy wastes
E coli
Electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity
Emissions
Farmers
Groundwater pollution
Landscaping
Legumes
Manures
Micronutrients
Microorganisms
Nitrogen
Organic matter
Organic wastes
Production methods
Sustainability
Waste management
Waste materials
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Improper management of organic waste can lead to unnecessary carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and groundwater contamination. In this study, organic waste materials from two of New Mexico’s (U.S.A.) top agricultural industries, pecan (Carya illinoinensis) and dairy cattle dairy manure, were used to evaluate the feasibility of an on-farm compost program. Pecan woody residues (P) served as the primary carbon source; regional cattle dairy manure (M) served as the primary nitrogen source. Additional (A) inputs from a compost consulting company (PM/A) and green waste from community landscaping and on-farm harvested legumes (PMG/A) were employed, both of which required additional labor and material inputs. Finished composts were analyzed for selected macro, secondary and micronutrients, pH, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), electrical conductivity (EC), total carbon (TC) and organic matter (OM) content, bulk density (bd), and microbial biomass. The PM alone treatment showed similar or significantly higher amounts of macro, secondary and micronutrients compared to the PM/A and PMG/A treatments. Total microbial biomass and total salinity were highest for the PM treatment. The total cost of the PM treatment was around 1/6 of the cost of the lowest-cost addition compost production scheme, indicating that simpler, lower-input production methods may be more advantageous for on-farm compost program development.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su14052550