Abstract
The use of solid dairy manure for sugarbeet production is problematic because beet yield and quality are sensitive to deficiencies or excesses in soil N, and soil N availability from manure varies substantially depending on the year of application. Experimental treatments included combinations of two manure rates (0.33 and 0.97 Mg total N ha−1) and three application times, and non-manure treatments (control and urea fertilizer). We measured soil net N mineralization and biomass, N uptake, and yields for sprinkler-irrigated sugarbeet. On average, the 1-year-old, low-rate manure, and 1- and 2-year-old, high-rate manure treatments produced 1.2-fold greater yields, 1.1-fold greater estimated recoverable sugar, and 1.5-fold greater gross margins than that of fertilizer alone. As a group the 1-year-old, low-rate manure, and 2- and 3-year-old, high-rate-manure treatments produced similar cumulative net N mineralization as urea fertilizer; whereas the 1-year-old, high-rate manure treatment provided nearly 1.5-fold more N than either group. With appropriate manure application rates and attention to residual N and timing of sugarbeet planting, growers can best exploit the N mineralized from manure, while simultaneously maximizing sugar yields and profits.
Highlights
An estimated 20 million Mg manure is produced annually by the 9-million-cow US dairy herd
The increased early-summer heat units coupled with abundant irrigation water supplies and the delay of hard frost until after October contributed to near optimal 2007 sugarbeet yields in southern Idaho [36]
This study quantifies the effects of stock-piled dairy manure applications made 1, 2, or 3 years previously on sugarbeet
Summary
An estimated 20 million Mg manure is produced annually by the 9-million-cow US dairy herd. In Idaho, much of the dairy manure is soil applied to supply crop nutrients and as a means of rebuilding soil organic carbon. The latter is important for eroded soils, which are common in this historically furrow irrigated region [1]. To maximize their use of manure and minimize losses of nitrogen (N) to the environment, growers need to know how much N becomes available to crops from manure applications [2]. As competition increases for cropland in the region, farmers who rent acreage can expand the pool of land available to them if they are willing to utilize manured ground
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