| Runoff from open beef feedlots has become an important environmental concern over the last decade. Feedlot runoff has the potential to degrade surface water and groundwater. In 2003, federal regulations allowed the use of alternative technologies to control feedlot runoff that performed equal to or better than a conventional runoff storage basin on a pollutant mass released basis. Vegetative treatment systems (VTS) are one alternative technology system of interest to researchers and producers across the Midwest.;This thesis includes two papers for journal submission and one supplemental chapter providing further analysis of the first paper.;Chapter two, including the first paper, reports the construction cost associated with 23 VTSs located in the Midwestern United States. The cost comparison for VTSs were presented on a per head space of cattle basis adjusted to 2009 dollars for animal feeding operations (AFOs) containing less than 1,000 head of cattle and CAFOs containing more than 1,000 head of cattle.;VTS construction costs were compared to estimated construction costs associated with conventional basins, monoslope barns, hoop structures, and earthen feedlots with a basin system. Results from the cost comparison indicated VTSs on average were the least expensive runoff control system to construct compared to conventional containment basins on both AFO (;The third chapter reports the annualized cost associated with the initial construction of a VTS compared to a containment basin. Operation and maintenance costs were not included for either VTSs or containment basins in this analysis due to availability of data. Results from this analysis showed VTSs, on average, cost approximately ;Chapter four consisting of the second paper reports the 2009 VTS performance data collected from nine CAFO feedlots located in Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. The nine VTSs were compared on the total runoff volumes from the SSB and VTA, pollutant concentrations in the effluent released from the VTA, and the mass of five monitored parameters released from each VTS component.;In 2009, five of the nine monitored VTSs did not report a release from the VTS. The percent runoff controlled varied by site ranging from a low of -6 percent to a high of 100 percent. The overall average percent of mass reduced from the five monitored parameters ranged from 72 to 100 percent. Vegetative treatment systems performance varied depending on site specific rainfall, stocking densities, feedlot to VTA ratio, and system design. The concentrations of five runoff parameters were monitored leaving each VTS component. These five parameters were total Kjeldahl nitrogen, ammonia, total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand, and total solids. The 2009 overall average concentration reduction for each VTS ranged from 35% to 84%. This range in concentration reductions was due to VTS design, weather conditions, site variation (i.e., soils, vegetation, etc.), and management practices. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
