In our new study, we studied the effects of applying separated vs. non‑separated cattle slurry over three years in a large lysimeter facility at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The results show that separated slurry provides substantial agronomic and environmental benefits.

Explore the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110275

Key findings:
🌾 Higher grassland productivity and improved forage quality
🌱 Greater nitrogen uptake in plants and increased soil N retention
🌫️ Markedly lower gaseous N losses to the atmosphere

🌍 For practical farming, our results indicate that applying the solid fraction in summer and the liquid fraction in spring helps minimize N₂O emissions. When timed well, slurry separation becomes an effective approach to increase nitrogen‑use efficiency, enhance grassland productivity, and lower overall nitrogen losses.

🙌 A big thank you to Jincheng Han and Michael Dannenmann leading this excellent collaboration by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the TUM School of Life Sciences, the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL) and the colleagues Rainer Gasche, Benjamin Wolf, Noelia Garcia Franco, Martin Wiesmeier, Ralf Kiese, Ulrike Ostler, Diana Andrade, Michael Schloter, Marcus Schlingmann, and Heinz Rennenberg.