Phosphorus amounts and distribution in a Saskatchewan soil after five years of swine and cattle manure application

Abstract

Repeated application of animal manures to Saskatchewan soils has led to interest in the fate and distribution of residual manure P in the soil. The concentrations of soil phosphorus in various inorganic and organic fractions were investigated in soils sampled from long-term field research plots (Dixon, SK) with a 5-yr history of annual application of liquid swine manure or solid cattle manure at low, medium and high rates. The soil type at the research site is a loamy textured Black Chernozem (Cudworth Association). Annual rates of manure application over the 5 yr were based on the N contents in the manures and were equivalent to 0 (control), and approximately 100 (low), 200 (medium) and 400 (high) kg total N ha-1 yr-1 as manure. For comparison, urea alone was also applied at rates of 50, 100 and 200 kg N ha-1 yr-1. The total P concentration in the surface soil (0&ndash15 cm) was significantly increased only by the addition of cattle manure and only in the medium and high rate treatments compared to the control. The most labile P fractions (Resin-P and NaHCO3-P) were also significantly increased with increasing rate of cattle manure addition. No significant increases in either soil total P or labile P fractions were observed in liquid swine manure treatments, which is attributed to the lower amount of P added with the swine manure treatment than the cattle manure treatment. Added P in the swine manure treatment more closely matched P removal in crop harvest compared to cattle manure treatment, which had more P added than was removed by the crop. Key words: Phosphorus fractions, labile P fraction, sequential P extraction, urea, swine manure, cattle manure