Contributions to nitrogen leaching and pasture uptake by autumn-applied dairy effluent and ammonium fertilizer labeled with 15 N isotope

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the N leaching loss and pasture N uptake from autumn-applied dairy shed effluent and ammonium fertilizer (NH4Cl) labeled with 15N, using intact soil lysimeters (80 cm diameter, 120 cm depth). The soil used was a sandy loam, and the pasture was a mixture of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens). The DSE and NH4Cl were applied twice annually in autumn (May) and late spring (November), each at 200 kg N ha-1. The N applied in May 1996 was labeled with 15N. The lysimeters were either spray or flood irrigated during the summer. The autumn-applied DSE resulted in lower N leaching losses compared with NH4Cl. However, the N applied in the autumn had a higher potential for leaching than N applied in late spring. Between 4.5–8.1% of the 15N-labeled mineral N in the DSE and 15.1–18.8% of the 15N-labeled NH4Cl applied in the autumn were leached within a year of application. Of the annual N leaching losses in the DSE treatments (16.0–26.9 kg N ha-1), a fifth (20.3–22.9%) was from the mineral N fraction of the DSE applied in the autumn, with the remaining larger proportion from the organic fraction of the DSE, soil N and N applied in spring. In the NH4Cl treatments, more than half (53.8–64.8%) of the annual N leaching loss (55.9–57.6 kg N ha-1) was derived from the autumn-applied NH4Cl. DSE was as effective as NH4Cl in stimulating pasture production. Since only 4.4–4.5% of the annual herbage N uptake in the DSE treatment and 12.3–13.3% in the NH4Cl treatment were derived from the autumn-applied mineral N, large proportions of the annual herbage N uptake must have been derived from the N applied in spring, the organic N fraction in the DSE, soil N and N fixed by clover. The recoveries of 15N in the herbage were similar between the DSE and the NH4Cl treatments, but those in the leachate were over 50% less from the DSE than from the NH4Cl treatment. The lower leaching loss of 15N in the DSE treatment was attributed to the stimulated microbial activities and increased immobilization following the application of DSE.