2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? There is growing public concern that manure management practices are degrading air and water quality in the US, particularly in humid regions near sensitive natural ecosystems like the Chesapeake Bay. This project’s general goal is to research the fate and transport of manure nitrogen (N) in order to develop improved manure management practices that maintain productivity and reduce losses to the environment. Specific research objectives include the determination of the chemical forms of carbon in manure and the transformations of manure carbon into sequestered soil carbon. Nitrogen budgets will also be constructed for several manure management scenarios for winter crops, which will form the foundation for designing manure management practices that supply adequate nitrogen to the crop and reduce losses to leaching and volatilization. Additional research will focus on developing improved estimates of nitrogen mineralization from manure through the development of new infrared based analytical techniques and real-time crop sensors that can measure nitrogen stress and apply a site-specific rate of remedial nitrogen. Research on ammonia volatilization will quantify ammonia losses from land application of manure and will contribute to developing an ammonia decision support module for improving ammonia loss estimates. Ammonia emissions from broiler production and from composting will also be studied, as influenced by litter amendments or amendments to the compost mix. Expanding the basic understanding of the fate and transformation of nitrogen and carbon in manure will be the basis for developing improved management practices that maintain productivity, conserve nutrients, and reduce nitrogen losses to the environment. The NRCS has summarized manure production from animal agriculture in relation to the capacity of crop land to assimilate manure nutrients and has concluded that. 1)animal production has shifted to larger confined enterprises which have concentrated more manure nutrients onto a relatively constant acreage of crop land, and. 2)farm levels of excess N (excreted N relative to available crop land) has increased 60% over the past 20 years with poultry production accounting for an estimated two-thirds of the farms with excess N. The Mid-Atlantic States are major livestock producers for poultry and dairy, the NRCS study identified about 30 counties in the Mid-Atlantic area with excess N. The highest excess N was in the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia peninsula, the Shenandoah Valley, and in Lancaster county area of Pennsylvania. The areas of excess N within the Mid-Atlantic area are also within the watershed and airshed of a sensitive natural ecosystem: the Chesapeake Bay. Nutrients arising from agriculture, particularly animal agriculture, have been estimated to contribute over 40% of the nutrient loading to the Chesapeake Bay. In response, the Mid-Atlantic States and EPA have agreed to an unprecedented partnership to reduce nutrient loads to the Bay by 50% over the next 10 years. While the release of nutrients to the environment from animal manures is a serious problem, these same manures also represent a potential source of carbon for carbon sequestration and maintenance of soil organic matter. Research is thus needed to develop management practices to increase on-farm utilization and sequestration of nutrients in manures, with concomitant reductions in nutrient loss to the airsheds and watersheds. This is an important goal for agriculture with direct implications for the Chesapeake Bay, and direct applicability to the problem of Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, and the continuing nation-wide problem of nitrate enrichment of ground waters. This project is part of the ARS National Strategic Plan Goal # 5: Protect and Enhance the National Resource Base and Environment under objectives 5.2.5 (manure management) and 5.2.4. (carbon sequestration) and is within the ARS National Program for Manure and By-Product Utilization (NP206). The project objectives of evaluating and developing manure management practices for managing the fate and transformations of nitrogen and carbon are part of NP206 Action Plan Component on Nutrient Management. The project objectives of quantifying and managing ammonia emissions are part of NP206 Action Plan Component on Atmospheric Emissions. The field and laboratory studies in this project also interact with other National Programs, such as the carbon sequestration research interacting with programs on Soil Resource Management and Global Change. The evaluation and development of improved estimates of N mineralization from manures is also part of a multi-unit ARS National Team on Manure Nitrogen Mineralization, and the development of real-time N sensors is part of the Precision Agriculture Team. The development of an ammonia decision support module links to the Air Emissions Team in Air Quality National Program. 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. a. Develop analytical methods for quantifying soil carbon sequestration from manure and determine the influence of manure management strategies on carbon sequestration. b. Determine the effect of N management strategies for winter crops, such as N rate, timing, and placement on soil N dynamics and N losses to air and water. c. Develop portable near-infrared instrumentation to estimate manure inorganic and organic N and to assess potential N mineralization as determined from the relationship of manure composition to N mineralization. d. Develop ground based real-time crop N sensors for estimating in-field N mineralization from manures and managing supplemental N. e. Quantify ammonia losses from land application of manures and evaluate the effect of manure management strategies on reducing losses. f. Quantify ammonia emissions from broiler production and manure treatment processes, such as composting, and evaluate methods to reduce these losses. 4a.What was the single most significant accomplishment this past year? No accomplishments in 2005 because project began April 5, 2005. 4b.List other significant accomplishments, if any. None, new project. 4c.List any significant activities that support special target populations. None, new project. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. None, new project. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? None, new project. 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: List your peer reviewed publications below). None, new project.