ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes recent research on the impact of long-term cattle manure applications on soil, water, and crops quality, and the resulting implications for animal and human health. Ammonia volatilization from livestock manure could be reduced by acidifying the slurry to a pH level of about 5 prior to soil application or by including low-pH natural feed additives in animal diets. Nevertheless, farm animal manure applications to soil may result in trace metal accumulation due to long-term high application rates. In the Netherlands, the trace metal input to agricultural soil by animal manure is much higher than from mineral fertilizers. As a consequence, manure applications can also influence plant nutrient concentrations and surface water and groundwater quality with implications for animal and human health. The major adverse human health risk from high rates of long-term livestock manure applications is Nitrate accumulating in soil and then migrating to surface water and groundwater.
