The Effect of Fertilizer Type and Level of N Fertilization Before and After Grassland Renewal on N Leaching Losses

Abstract

AbstractWhen grassland is ploughed and reseeded this results in an increased mineralization of organically bound nitrogen (N) in the soil. Greater amounts of nitrate in autumn are at risk of being leached during the winter half of the year. In two field experiments, nitrate leaching was measured over 2 years after reseeding of a 9‐year‐old grassland field in spring on a sandy soil in northwest Germany. During the experiments, major management factors that can influence the intensity of mineralization were varied: Type of fertilizer, mineral N fertilizer or organic manure, and the level of fertilization, 0, 160 or 320 kg N ha−1 a−1, before renewal of the grassland, and level of fertilization, 0, 160 or 320 kg N ha−1 a−1 in mineral form, after renewal of the grassland. The type of fertilization as well as the level of N fertilization before ploughing had no significant effect on the soil mineral nitrogen content (SMN) in autumn and N leaching in the year following the grassland renewal. N fertilizer level after sward renovation had a significant effect on the nitrate leaching losses in the two following years. Fertilization at a rate of 320 kg N ha−1 resulted in leaching losses of 7 and 61 kg N ha−1 in the first and second subsequent years, respectively. At fertilizer rates of 0 and 160 kg N ha−1 leaching losses were lower than 5 kg N ha−1. It is concluded that for mown grassland no restriction of the N fertilization before the renovation of the sward is necessary to reduce the nitrate leaching risk as long as the amount of N fertilized does not exceed the N‐uptake by the crop. Similarly, the N fertilization after the sward renewal does not bear a particular leaching risk.