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The U.S. dairy industry has changed significantly during the past 20 years. The number of dairies declined 63% from 1997 to 2012 due to the rise in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the concomitant decline of small dairy farms. Efficient and cost-effective dairies adhering to the CAFO business design are praised for their high milk production. However, with a per capita daily manure production of 55 kg, storage and disposal of manure at these large operations pose significant management challenges and environmental risks. Application to surrounding agricultural fields is a common practice for disposing of manure, but the fate and consequences of antibiotics present in dairy waste are issues of great concern. Although antibiotics in the environment promote microbial resistance, their risks to humans and the environment are not completely known. Understanding and predicting the fate of antibiotics from dairy manure in soils is complicated by the variability and complex interactions of soil factors in addition to the diversity of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs), their amphoteric structures, and potential antagonistic and synergistic interactions among CECs. This review explores behavior of the tetracycline class of antibiotics from dairy manure in the soil environment. Tetracycline fate in soils depends significantly on soil pH, ionic strength, and soil organic matter. Molecular charge and physicochemical properties of tetracyclines at typical soil pHs encourage strong sorption to soils; however, this interaction is complicated by organic matter and metals, and may also encourage development of antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, tetracycline degradation products exhibit distinct properties from their parent compounds that also must be considered. Increased knowledge of the behavior of tetracycline antibiotics in soil is needed to enable mitigation of their potential risks.

The archaeological evidence from Cova Gran de Santa Linya suggests that during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, the site was used as a livestock enclosure where the accumulated excrements were burned, generating a sequence known by the term fumier . Here we present the results of an integrated study of silica phytoliths, dung spherulites, and mineral composition of sedimentary matrix from the remaining Holocene sequence. The use of fire to sanitize the space had important consequences for the preservation of dung spherulites and the accumulation of phytoliths. Phytolith assemblages indicate that the animals enclosed in the cave were mostly sheep that exploited the pastures nearby the site during the year. In this sense, the results from our modern plant reference collection challenge the assumption that grass inflorescence phytolith can be used as a seasonality indicator.

In 2012 there were 63% fewer dairies in the United States than there were in 1997 as a result of conglomeration of the dairy industry into concentrated animal feeding operations at the expense of smaller farms. Today, 60% of all milk produced in the United States comes from 5% of the nation’s dairies (operations with ≥ 500 cows). Concentrated animal feeding operations are touted as economically efficient agricultural business models, hailed for their increased milk yields. Yet, with an average daily manure production of over 27 000 kg for a 500-head dairy farm, manure storage and disposal are serious management and environmental concerns. A common economical mode of manure disposal is application to nearby agricultural fields. However, a major concern with land application of dairy manure is the fate of manure-borne hormones, compounds considered chemicals of emerging concern, and the potential threat these hormones pose to humans and the environment. The fate of these chemicals in the soil environment is complicated by multiple edaphic variables including pH, mineralogy, organic matter, microbial activity, and redox status. Estrogens are sorbed by soil organic matter and transformed to nonbioactive, highly soluble conjugated forms or to metabolites that exhibit yet additional properties distinct from their parent compounds. However, deconjugation frequently occurs, regenerating endocrine-disrupting free estrogen compounds. It is challenging to fully understand the behavior and predict the fate of estrogenic compounds from dairy manure in soils because of variable and complex interactions with soil factors, as well as possible interactions among the different chemicals of emerging concern. This review focuses on the behavior of naturally occurring estrogen hormones present in dairy manure in the soil environment. Heightened understanding of the fate of these compounds in soil will enhance our ability to reduce their potential risks.

Obsihir-5 holds some of the  earliest evidence for the utilization of livestock in the mountainous regions of Central Asia. However, direct evidence of herding is lacking at the site. Geoarchaeological investigations, including textural, geochemical, mineralogical and micromorphological methods, have focused on the reconstruction of site formation and the search for direct evidence of herding activities. The sedimentary sequence at Obishir-5 has been divided into three facies: (1) SU0-SU1 (Bronze Age and Middle Ages), (2) SU2-SU3 (Obishirian), and (3) SU4-SU5 (Mesolithic/Epipaleolithic). SU1 formed through colluvial processes and was reworked by human and human-related activities. It is likely that these activities included herding and burning. Given the presence of herbivore dung and trampling in the sedimentary record, SU1 could include fumier-style accumulation. SU2-SU3 formed from the accumulation of coarse debris and fine particles originating from colluvial processes, physical weathering, aeolian processes and anthropogenic activity, such as burning. The archaeological material, including bones, charcoal and herbivore dung is intermixed with geogenic sediments and shows evidence of reworking. SU4-SU5 formed from colluvial and aeolian processes with low sedimentation rate. Human activity here was of low intensity and sporadic. The study of the sedimentary record has shown evidence of the use of dung and wood as fuel during the Obishirian period. However, it is not clear whether the sediments represent fumier deposits and therefore herding, as they have been heavily reworked. Nevertheless, the study opens up perspectives for the presence of livestock at the site during the Obishirian occupation. The methodology employed has allowed the reconstruction of the site formation history.

Fumier deposits are the product of the recurrent use of caves and rock shelters for stabling livestock and the periodic burning of the resulting dung. Their chronologies in the Mediterranean area extend from Neolithic times up to the Bronze Age, but they are scarce in or absent from Iron Age sites. The study of these deposits has provided important information to better understand past livestock and husbandry practices. The archaeological site of Los Husos II, Álava, in the upper Ebro basin, Spain, dating to 6,990–6,770 cal BP, represents one of the earliest pieces of evidence for animal domestication in the Basque Country. The Ebro basin is particularly important, since this was the main route by which the Neolithic economic system spread from the Mediterranean coast to the northern Iberian Peninsula and the western Pyrenees. We present here the results of the study of the fumier deposits from the Neolithic Levels IV to IX of Los Husos II, through analyses of phytoliths, faecal spherulites and ash pseudomorphs. The main goal was to discover the ways in which Neolithic populations in this region adapted these new practices and carried out their activities. The results indicate a constant pattern of keeping animals throughout the study period. The principal component of the livestock diet consisted of wild grasses from the vicinity. The presence of grass inflorescences suggests a diet rich in summer grass. In addition to grasses, dicotyledonous plants were also indicated, both through phytoliths and ash pseudomorphs. Faecal spherulites from herbivores were also noted in the samples and together with phytoliths and ash pseudomorphs they give important information regarding the formation processes of the studied deposits.

Several Neolithic to Iron Age sites of the Mediterranean region contain archaeological sediments, called fumiers, which are composed mainly of burnt animal dung and vegetal remains, and are commonly interpreted as the product of pastoral activities. Here we address three main topics about these sediments, which occur almost exclusively in the entrance areas of karstic caves and rock-shelters: their characteristics; methodological aspects of their excavation and study; and their archaeological interpretation. For such purposes, we briefly review the information available about Neolithic fumiers and present the first data from the sites of El Mirador (Burgos, Spain) and Riparo Gaban (Trento, Italy).

In order to enhance the mass production of Musca domestica five aspects of its oviposition biology were analyzed. Oviposition substrate and the manner of its presentation, the composition of the diet of the adults, size of the pupae and numbers of flies in a cage were identified as critical. Females preferred to lay eggs on a substrate which was presented within a shelter and with increased linear edges against which the flies could oviposit. Different types of oviposition substrate resulted in comparable yields of eggs. The presence of an oviposition attractant (ammonia) in the manure was found to have a potentially positive effect on female fecundity. Egg yield increased when two protein sources (yeast and milk) were included in the adult diet. However, flies fed a mixture of sugar and yeast laid over 50% fewer eggs than those fed the same proportion of sugar and milk. The fecundity of flies decreased with the increase in the number of flies per cage, but the highest total number of eggs per cage was obtained with the highest density of flies (14.2 cubic cm per fly). The size of the pupae did not significantly affect egg production.

Description of the subject. The implementation of the Nitrates Directives in the Walloon region (in the south of Belgium) allows the summer spreading of any kind of manure on soils in preparation for the sowing of a catch crop. Objectives. This paper aims to assess whether the spreading of a manure before sowing a catch crop is more risky for groundwater quality than planting a cereal followed by another crop without any action being implemented between the harvesting of the cereal and the sowing (winter or spring) of the next crop. Method. This study is based on measurements of the nitrate nitrogen content of soils, at the beginning of the leaching period, performed on reference parcels and on controlled parcels. Results. Three thousand six hundred soil analyses performed in relation to controlled parcels between 2008 and 2013 showed that the presence of a catch crop (information about the possible application of a manure was not known) led to a nitrate nitrogen content (median) lower (with a very highly significant difference) than in a situation where no action was implemented between the two main crops. For the same period, the analysis of 600 results in reference parcels led to the same conclusion. Moreover, no significant difference was found between the two kinds of manure (“fast action”, such as pig slurry or “low action”, such as bovine manure). Conclusions. After the harvesting of a cereal, the spreading of a manure before sowing a catch crop creates no higher risk for water quality than the succession of a cereal by a crop sowed in the autumn.

Quantification of nutrient and mass loss during composting is needed to understand the composting process, to implement methods for nutrient conservation, and to reduce potential adverse environmental impact. Beef cattle feedlot manure was composted in a windrow on an open concrete area in 1992, 1993, and 1994 to determine the amounts of nutrient, C, and mass loss during composting. The area was enclosed on all sides with a 0.2 m high metal sheet to direct runoff to a fiberglass tank (4000 L) during rainfall. Nutrients in runoff represented combined runoff and leaching losses. Nutrients, C, and mass loss during composting was determined by the difference between the amounts at the beginning and at the end of the composting. Nitrogen loss during composting ranged from 19 to 42% and was related to the initial manure N content. Ammonia volatilization (calculated by difference) accounted for 92% of the N loss whereas combined runoff nitrate and ammonium loss was 0.5%. Mass loss was relatively low (15-20%) while C loss ranged from 46 to 62% and was basically all through bio-oxidation. Phosphorus runoff loss, the main mechanism for P loss, was low ( 2%). Manure N/P ratio decreased during composting, indicating a greater soil P buildup potential with compost application. Potassium and Na losses in runoff were high ( 6.5% each) in 1992 and 1993: they were low ( 2% each) in 1994 due to fewer rainfall. Calcium and Mg losses were 6% each year. Nutrient and salt loss during composting resulted in reduced electrical conductivity of the composted manure. Ammonium and P concentrations in runoff would create surface water pollution if runoff was not diluted with fresh water