Treating liquid manure with biochar | Hans-Peter Schmidt | Ithaka Journal 1 | 2012: 273–276 | ISSN 1663-0521 273 Delinat Institute for Ecology and Climate-farming | www.delinat-institut.org | Ithaka Journal Please cite the article as follows: Schmidt HP Treating liquid manure with biochar Ithaka Journal 1/ 2012: 273–276 (2012) www.ithaka-journal.net Editor: Delinat-Institute for Ecology and Climate- farming, CH-1974 Arbaz www.delinat-institut.org, www.ithaka-journal.net. ISSN 1663-0521 Treating liquid manure with biochar by Hans-Peter Schmidt Treating liquid manure with biochar by Hans-Peter Schmidt One of our oldest preconceptions is that a cowshed inevita- bly stinks. But the pungent odour of liquid manure is irst and foremost the sign of a microbial decomposition pro- cess that has gone out of control. That which stinks to high heaven is not only an offence to delicate citizens’ noses but above all a source of disease for the animals living there. Thanks to biochar and to the control of the microbial en- vironment in the shed and in the manure pit, materials cy- cles can be closed. Liquid manure in this way becomes a highly eficient, sustainable and odourless fertilizer. In spring and autumn, when farmers spray their ields with liquid manure, an acrid stench spreads across the country- side. This pungent smell comes especially from ammonia, a volatile nitrogen compound formed from the urea contained in the manure. Large portions of the ammonia, which is cor- rosive to soil organisms and ine roots, escape into the atmos- phere, where it binds to dust particles and returns in the form of acid rain onto ields, forests, cities and water systems, caus- ing major environmental damage. While some of the minerals in the liquid manure like am- monium, nitrate, urea and phosphate become available as nutrients to the plant, a, signiicant portion of the nutrients is leached to ground and surface waters, not to mention the climate-damaging gas emissions. Some 50% of the nitrogen is lost by degassing, leaching and erosion between cowshed and ield via the manure pit, resulting not only in very low ferti- lizer eficiency but costly environmental damage. In Germany alone, agricultural ammonia emissions amount to more than 600 000 tons a year. Due to the outgassing of ammonia and leaching of nitrates, fertilizing with untreated liquid manure results in soil acidi- ication, which in turn greatly impairs the fertility and bio- logical activity of the soil and accelerates the decomposition of humus. Even more dangerous than soil acidiication, however, is when, as a result of using non-treated manure, pathogens from animals’ digestive tracts or from the bacteria strains and fungal spores generated in the rotting manure pit are spread into the ields. Although most disease-causing mi- croorganisms are destroyed by antagonists in the soil, some highly resistant strains of bacteria, fungal spores and other pathogens like Clostridium (EHEC, botulism) survive the en- tire plant growth cycle and can be ingested by the animals via fodder from these ields. This completes a vicious cycle that gradually breeds more and more resistant pathogens and may endanger both animal and human health. ithakajournal viticulture ecology climate-farming 1 | 2012