Magellan mats reduce ammonia emissions.
Thanks to their draining design, Magellan mats facilitate the rapid evacuation of urine, which reduces urine/feces contact, the source of ammonia emissions. According to a study by the independent Dutch laboratory Meet ID, a barn equipped with Magellan mats will emit 42% less ammonia than with slatted floors.
Ammonia is very present in our environment. It is a nitrogenous compound whose emissions the public authorities wish to reduce, primarily for our health, as ammonia is an irritant gas. By recombining with other molecules, it is a precursor to microparticles. At the environmental level too, ammonia emissions have an unfavorable impact as they lead to acidification of the air and eutrophication of the environment.
In France, 94% of ammonia emissions come from the agricultural sector, of which 43% is from cattle farming alone. The manure management chain is mainly responsible for this, as ammonia is formed when urine and feces come into contact.
42% reduction in ammonia emissions
For the agricultural sector, in addition to the health and environmental benefits, reducing ammonia emissions also presents an economic advantage, as the nitrogen transformed into ammonia represents lost units for fertilization.
With its draining design, the Magellan mat is a solution for reducing ammonia emissions. The slope and grooves of the mat promote the rapid elimination of urine between scrapings, which, combined with lower humidity, reduces ammonia emissions.
The independent Dutch laboratory Meet ID specializes in measuring gas emissions and certifying innovations for emission reduction in the livestock sector. To quantify the emission reduction enabled by Magellan mats, the Meet ID laboratory compared ammonia emissions on slatted floors and on Magellan mats using a scientific protocol. Initially, the presence of residual urine was measured, revealing 0.74 mm on floors with slatted floors, compared to only 0.35 mm on floors equipped with Magellan mats. The Meet ID laboratory also evaluated ammonia emissions, which were 14.3 kg NH3/animal/year on a slatted floor. In a barn equipped with Magellan mats, emissions were only 8.4 kg/animal/year, representing a reduction of nearly 42% on the Magellan mat compared to a conventional slatted floor.
Based on emissions of 13 kg NH3/cow/year, traditionally accepted as the emission standard in the Netherlands, the installation of Magellan mats would reduce these emissions by between 6.8 and 7.5 kg, depending on the cleaning systems used.
These results have enabled the approval of Magellan mats for environmental protection in four European countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. Approval applications are pending in Denmark, Switzerland, and Austria.
Accurately calculate ammonia emissions.
The Meet ID laboratory has calculated the cumulative ammonia emissions for different types of flooring. The percentage reduction is determined based on the cumulative emissions over the 14 hours following urine spraying. This timeframe corresponds to the average duration before a specific area of the barn receives urination again.
The cumulative ammonia emissions over 14 hours are used to evaluate the emission potential, based on an area of 4.5 m² per cow. The emission potential is calculated by summing the emissions over 14 hours * 24h/14 * 365 days / (floor area / 4.5 m2 * 1000).
