Soil‐water Properties as Affected by Twelve Annual Applications of Cattle Feedlot Manure

Abstract

AbstractA long‐term study was set up to determine the effects of annual applications of manure, at rates in excess of the recommended, on a Dark Brown Chernozemic (Typic Haploborolls) soil. Cattle (Bos taurus) feedlot manure was applied at 0, 30, 60 and 90 Mg ha−1 to nonirrigated and 0, 60, 120, and 180 Mg ha−1 to irrigated land at the Lethbridge Research Station. Soil‐water properties of the soil at 0‐ to 15‐ and 15‐ to 30‐cm depths, as affected by the manure, are reported. In the surface 15 cm of soil, the mean volume of plant‐available water retained by the soil between 20 and 1500 kPa tension decreased with increasing rates of manure on both the nonirrigated and irrigated blocks of land. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil cores and the infiltration rate of the soil in the field were unaffected by the applied manure.