Abstract
Dairy compost is utilized in agricultural fields to supplement nutrients, yet its role in optimizing nutrient supply and health of semiarid soils is not clear. A greenhouse study was conducted over two months to evaluate soil properties and forage sorghum production under various compost rates. The study had six treatments and four replications. Treatments included compost application rates at 6.7 (C1), 13.5 (C2), 20.2 (C3), 26.9 (C4), and 33.6 Mg ha−1 (C5) and a control (C0). Soil samples were analyzed for soil organic carbon (SOC), potentially mineralizable carbon (PMC), total nitrogen (N), inorganic N, potentially mineralizable N (PMN), available phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S). Plant biomass production and biomass C, N, and lignin contents were also estimated. High compost rates improved soil properties significantly (p < 0.05) indicated by increased SOC, N, P, K, Ca, and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Sorghum biomass production did not increase significantly with compost rate, while shoot N content increased at higher rates of compost. A nutrient management plan that integrates dairy compost application has potential to improve soil health and support sustainable forage production in semiarid regions.
Highlights
Increasing awareness of soil health and sustainable agriculture has emphasized the role of the livestock sector— the dairy industry—in crop and forage production in the semiarid southern High Plains of the USA
Soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) varied significantly among treatments. It was higher in C3, C4, and C5 by 5% to 9 % than C0 and C1, while C2 was intermediate of C0 and higher compost rate treatments and not different from either (Figure 1)
Soil electrical conductivity (EC) increased with compost rate and differed between treatments at p = 0.06 (Figure 1)
Summary
Increasing awareness of soil health and sustainable agriculture has emphasized the role of the livestock sector— the dairy industry—in crop and forage production in the semiarid southern High Plains of the USA. Dairy cattle supply nutrients to crops through manure and provide milk and milk products. Dairies in the mountainous states, which include New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nevada, accounted for 16.4% of total milk production in 2017. In the state of New Mexico, the share of the dairy industry is 45.1% of the total agricultural economy [2]. With an average of 9.7 kg of dry manure produced by a lactating cow each day, 329,000 milking cows produce about 1,164,824 metric tons of dry manure annually in New Mexico [1,3], which supports agricultural production and profitability
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