Efficiency parameters of nitrogen in hog and cattle manure in the second year following application

Abstract

AbstractThe efficiency of nitrogen (N) derived from different manures in the years following application must be determined to optimize use of N and reduce impact on the environment. Five N efficiency parameters that were originally developed for commercial inorganic N fertilizers were selected to measure the manure N efficiency in the second year following application of liquid hog and solid cattle manure in semiarid east‐central Saskatchewan, Canada. The manures were applied at two sites (Dixon and Burr) at four rates covering a range from zero to 912 kg N ha–1 in 1997. A canola (Brassica napus L.) crop was grown in 1997 followed by a spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in 1998 without fertilization. Tested by the wheat, N utilization efficiency (NUE) was similar between the two manures at either site, but it was higher at Dixon site, where the soil properties were better, than at the Burr site (P < 0.07) with cattle manure. Nitrogen physiological efficiency (NPE) was not affected by either manure source or soil. At the Burr site, N agronomic efficiency (NAE) and N recovery rate (NRR) were all higher with the hog than with the cattle manure (P < 0.08 and P < 0.07, respectively), but N harvest index (NHI) was lower with the hog than with the cattle manure (P < 0.04). The similar trends of the NAE, NRR, and NHI between the hog and cattle manure were also found at the Dixon site. However, the differences in NRR between the hog and cattle manure in the second year was rather small in contrast to the large differences in the year of application. Despite that the wheat crop utilized residual hog and cattle manure N equally efficient in producing grain yield, a higher grain N concentration and a higher NHI with the cattle than with the hog manure revealed different N supply dynamics between the two. Possibly due to the low proportion of ammonium (NH3)‐N in the total N and the high C : N ratio in the cattle manure, mineralization of cattle manure N provided more available N in the later stage of wheat growth than did the hog manure. The N efficiency parameters were useful tools in understanding the impact of residual manure N on wheat production on the Canadian prairies.