Less Odorful Cattle Manure

WASHINGTON - Mar 29/05 - SNS -- USDA Researchers have found feeding high moisture corn instead of dry-rolled corn is one of several strategies which can be used to reduce cattle manure odors.

This has become a bigger issue as cities encroach on agricultural areas and more people move from cities and suburbs to rural areas.

Researchers at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska say the goal is to create beef diets which give the kind of weight gains needed by cattle producers, while reducing unpleasant odors.

The scientists don't measure odor per se, but the compounds that might cause odor. Starch that is not digested produces many odor-causing compounds in manure. If more starch is digested, less starch is available to cause odor. Starch from dry-rolled corn does not get digested as thoroughly as that in the high-moisture corn, so cattle fed high-moisture corn are less likely to produce foul-smelling manure.

High-moisture corn is usually cheaper for cattle producers who own the corn. But for those who don't, it can become too expensive because of storage and transportation issues.

The research was conducted by postdoctoral fellow Shawn L. Archibeque, animal scientist Harvey C. Freetly, microbiologist Daniel N. Miller, and animal scientist Calvin L. Ferrell. Their results were presented earlier this year at a "Symposium on the State of the Science: Animal Manure and Waste Management," in San Antonio, Texas.