Manure Management Webinar February 2021

Webinar Chair: Dr Sinead Waters

Introduction to the Manure Management Network, Prof. Dave Chadwick
This introduction to the Manure Management Network (MMN) will cover the history of establishing the Network, the scope, deliverables, and relationship with international projects (e.g. DataMan, MELS). Future priorities for the MMN will also be covered.

DATAMAN project, Dr Tony van der Weerden
The majority of countries currently report GHG emissions from manure management using the default (Tier 1) approach from the IPCC. Over the last decade a large body of data has been generated that quantifies emissions arising from each step of the manure management chain. DATAMAN aims to collate and analyse data (emission factors and all relevant activity and ancillary data) from international project participants. This will improve our understanding of the influence of key variables such as manure composition, climate and soils on N2O, NH3 and CH4 emissions from the different steps in manure management, leading to improved emission factors and the development of empirical relationships between key variables and emission factors.

MELS Project, Associate Prof. Barbara Amon
The EU Effort Sharing Agreement and the Paris Agreement create challenging targets for GHG emission reductions and represent respectively short and long term existential threats to livestock production systems. The MELS project, funded under the FACCE 2018 Joint Call, builds on the DATAMAN project by collating additional data on emissions from manure management and activity /ancillary data. MELS will assess and recommend improvements to existing farm-scale decision support systems in relation to GHG and nitrogen emissions from livestock production systems, including grazing ruminants. Allowing mitigation strategies on emissions and costs to be more accurately quantified at the national and farm scales. MELS will also contribute to the improvements of national emission inventories.