How to Reduce Nitrogen Emissions Under Real Farm Conditions – Trials Launched

At the end of last year, as part of the LIFE UpcyclingGrass project, we started practical trials to test how nitrogen emissions can be reduced under real farm conditions.

The aim of the experiment is to find out whether hay pellet bedding enriched with micro-organisms can help reduce nitrogen in the environment. The study will assess how different forms of nitrogen in the cattle bedding change over time as a result of the interaction between manure and bedding.

The trial takes place on the beef farm “Atēnas” where two groups of beef cattle have been set up in two free-range livestock housings. For the demonstration group bedding we use hay pellets enriched with micro-organisms while for the control group there is the conventional bedding – the hay.

In the demonstration group’s facility, the bedding layer consists of hay pellets produced by SIA Sita Nature Park , sprayed with a mixture of micro-organisms developed by the scientists of SIA Bioefekts The mixture consists of three non-pathogenic bacterial species from the genera Bacillus, Streptomyces and Lactobacillus.

From now on, Bioefekts will measure and monitor the amount of micro-organisms in the bedding once a month while Latvian Fund for Nature (LDF) will detect and analyze different forms of nitrogen in both the demonstration and control groups. Also LDF will assess the animal welfare, respiratory health and the total effectiveness of hay pellet bedding.

The trial will last 12 weeks. At the end of the trial, the bedding from the demonstration group will be treated with a composting agent to improve decomposition and composting.

ZS “Atēnas” is an organically certified farm in Zaube parish, Cesis municipality. It breeds Limousin and crossbred beef cattle and pays particular attention to animal welfare and high-quality forage. The owner of the farm is Valdis Lācis, the daily work is organised by Aelita Runce.