Nutrient composition of Kansas swine lagoons and hoop barn manure

A total of 312 samples in two experiments were analyzed to determine mean nutrient concentrations of swine lagoons and hoop barns in Kansas. First, in a retrospective study (Exp. 1), we obtained 41 sample analyses from the Kansas Department of Agriculture of sow, nursery, wean-to-finish, finish, and farrow-to-finish operations in 1999. The average total N concentration was 899 ppm (SD = 584 ppm), while the total P concentration was 163 ppm (SD = 241 ppm). In an attempt to reduce the variation, we conducted a prospective experiment standardizing collection procedure, laboratory techniques, phase of production, and season of year to more accurately determine the nutrient concentrations of swine lagoons in Kansas. In Exp. 2, we used 236 lagoon and 35 hoop barn manure samples taken in 2000 from Kansas swine operations to determine the impacts of production phase and season of the year on nutrient concentration. The different operations with swine lagoons were: 1) sow; 2) nursery; 3) wean-to-finish; 4) finish; and 5) farrow-to-finish, with a total of 9, 8, 7, 10, and 8 lagoons sampled from each phase of production, respectively. The total N and P concentrations from lagoons were 1,402 and 204 ppm, respectively, averaged over all samples. Concentrations of total N were higher in wean-to-finish and finishing lagoons (P < 0.05) compared with sow and farrow-to-finish lagoons. Lagoon analyses also revealed that N concentrations decreased (linear, P < 0.05) during the summer and fall compared with winter and early spring. The concentration of P was greater (P < 0.05) for wean-to-finish compared with farrow-to-finish lagoons. Phosphorus concentrations for all lagoons increased (quadratic, P < 0.05) from February until June, but then declined steady throughout the remainder of the year. Average total N and P in hoop barns were 8,678 and 4,364 ppm, respectively. No seasonal changes in N and P concentrations were observed in manure from hoop barns. Season and type of production phase affect the nutrient content of Kansas swine lagoons, and producers will benefit from obtaining individual analyses from their lagoons when developing nutrient management plans rather than utilizing published reference values.