Evaluating Aeration Technique for Soil Disturbances and Liquid Manure Infiltration

Abstract

Evaluation of aeration techniques for agriculture practices is important to optimize future design and recommendations by understanding the soil disturbances and liquid interactions with the soil such as runoff, infiltration, and dispersion. In this experiment, an Aerway commercial aerator was modified and used to study the interactions between the machinery, soil and the effects of liquid hog manure applied on the soil. A silt loam site near Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada was used for this experiment. In this research, three manure application rates of 2500, 4500, and 7500 gallons per acre (23 000, 42 000, and 70 000 L/ha) containing 0.4 % total solid content were used. The soil measurements included a snapshot of the soil surface roughness and the liquid manure measurements included a three dimensional soil moisture characteristic plane and liquid manure surface cover on the soil. The results showed that the tractor speed increased soil pocket size and decreased soil overthrow while there was little influence with the pocket width. It was found that the manure infiltrated to a depth of 150 mm and the dispersion occurred majority between 50-100 mm beneath the soil surface. It was also measured that the liquid manure cover on the surface had small differences with the varying application rates.