Solid Cattle Manure Application Research Articles

Bedding additives reduce ammonia emission and improve crop N uptake after soil application of solid cattle manure

This study examined the influences of three potential additives, i.e., lava meal, sandy soil top-layer and zeolite (used in animal bedding) amended solid cattle manures on (i) ammonia (NH3), dinitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions and (ii) maize crop or grassland apparent N recovery (ANR). Diffusion samplers were installed at 20 cm height on grassland surface to measure the concentrations of NH3 from the manures. A photoacoustic gas monitor was used to quantitate the fluxes of N2O, CH4 and CO2 after manures’ incorporation into the maize-field. Herbage ANR was calculated from dry matter yield and N uptake of three successive harvests, while maize crop ANR was determined at cusp of juvenile stage, outset of grain filling as well as physiological maturity stages. Use of additives decreased the NH3 emission rates by about two-third from the manures applied on grassland surface than control untreated-manure. Total herbage ANR was more than doubled in treated manures and was 25% from manure amended with farm soil, 26% and 28% from zeolite and lava meal, respectively compared to 11% from control manure. In maize experiment, mean N2O and CO2 emission rates were the highest from the latter treatment but these rates were not differed from zero control in case of manures amended with farm soil or zeolite. However, mean CH4 emissions was not differed among all treatments during the whole measuring period. The highest maize crop ANR was obtained at the beginning of grain filling stage (11–40%), however ample lower crop recoveries (8–14%) were achieved at the final physiological maturity stage. This phenomenon was occurred due to leaf senescence N losses from maize crop during the period of grains filling. The lowest losses were observed from control manure at this stage. Hence, all additives decreased the N losses from animal manure and enhanced crop N uptake thus improved the agro-environmental worth of animal manure.

Effects of organic solid cattle manure application on nutritive value of winter cereal forages

ABSTRACTNutritive value of winter cereal forages is one of interested subjects of farmers for animal feeding. Field experiments were established in 2007–2008 and 2008–2009 growing seasons in northeast Turkey to investigate the effect of organic solid cattle manure application (0, 10 and 20 Mg ha−1 yr−1) on nutritive value of three annual cereals for forage. The winter cereal forages were: wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), oat (Avena sativa L.) and rye (Secela cereale L.). ADF (acid detergent fiber), NDF (neutral detergent fiber) CP (crude protein), nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, sodium, zinc and boron (N, P, K, S, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Zn and B) concentrations were researched in this study. Wheat had the highest CP, N, Ca, Cu, Na and Zn concentration, whereas oat had the lowest ADF and NDF and the highest K, Fe and Mn concentrations. The greatest Mg and P concentrations were determined in rye. Organic solid cattle manure applications had no effect on N and CP contents, but it decreased ADF and NDF contents. However, in most cases it positively affected the P, B, Cu, Fe, Mg and Na concentrations, whereas it decreased K, Ca, Mn and Zn concentrations. The results showed that wheat and oat are more nutritive species than rye in terms of animal feeding and the organic solid cattle manure, in some cases increased the nutritive values of wheat, oat and rye under organic agriculture conditions.

Maize nitrogen recovery and dry matter production as affected by application of solid cattle manure subjected to various storage conditions

This study aimed to quantify the effects of contrasting composted methods of solid cattle manure (SCM) ondry matter (DM) yield and crop apparent N recovery (ANR)following manure application to maize land. Fresh SCM was stored as stockpiled, roofed, covered and composted heaps. After storage, the manures were incorporated in a sandy soil, and maize ANR both as a proportion of field applied N (ANRF) and collected N from the barn (ANRB),and DM yield was established at three successive growth stages: end of juvenile phase, start of grain filling, and physiological maturity. During the storage period, on average 6% of the initial Ntotal was lost from covered, whereas this fraction was 12, 21 and 33% from roofed, stockpiled, and composted heaps, respectively. DM yield of maize increased with the application of all the manure types as compared to the unfertilized control, at the end of Juvenile (2.2 vs. 3.1-3.4 Mg ha-1), grain filling (11.2 vs. 13.6-16.4 Mg ha-1) and physiological maturity stages (13.9 vs. 15.3-15.9 Mg ha-1). At a given growth stage, the greatest value was obtained from covered than roofed, stockpiled and composted manures.Maize ANRF was the highest at start of grain filling (20, 29, 31, and 39% of the applied N for composted, stockpiled, roofed and covered treatments, respectively) but lower values were obtained at physiological maturity (12-21%). The respective values in case of maize ANRB were 13, 23, 27 and 37% of total N taken from barn at the start of grain filling while it was also lower (8-20%) at physiological maturity. It is concluded thatstorage of SCM under an impermeable plastic cover reduce N losses, increased DM yield and ANR thereby improves on-farm N cycling as compared to traditional stockpiling or composting.

Effect of applications of organic solid cattle manure on Hungarian vetch and barley intercropping mixtures grown on soils of different depths

AbstractSloping fields on soils of shallow depth to tillage are commonly left uncultivated in many parts of the world. This study was conducted to compare the effects on morphological traits, dry‐matter (DM) yield, legume ratio (LR), crude protein content (CP), crude protein yield (CPyield) and mineral concentrations (N, P, K, S, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, B and Zn) of Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonicaCrantz.) and barley (Hordeum vulgareL.) grown in intercropping mixtures in response to three rates of organic solid cattle manure application (M0: 0, M1: 10, M2: 20 t ha−1). Experimentation was conducted on soils of two different soil depths [shallow (8–12 cm; low‐medium erosion risk) and normal soil depth (18–22 cm; no erosion risk)] on a sloping field in the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 growing seasons at Gumushane, Turkey. Herbage harvested on the shallow depth area had 22–73% lessDMyield, 14–72% lessCPyield, 6–9% greaterCPcontent and generally higher minerals contents than herbage from the normal soil depth area. Cattle manure applications increasedDMyield by about 23%, increasedCPcontent andCPyield, and also increased the contents of most minerals in herbage of the intercropping mixtures, relative to the control, averaged over the two soil depths. It is suggested that, for areas with shallow soil depths that are prone to erosion, plant cover should be used for forage production, and that fertilization with solid cattle manure at 20 t ha−1can support production of quality forage of acceptableDMyield.

Soil pH and earthworms affect herbage nitrogen recovery from solid cattle manure in production grassland

Long term use of inorganic fertilisers and reduced organic matter inputs have contributed to acidification of agricultural soils. This strongly affects the soil dwelling fauna and nutrient mineralisation. Organic fertilisers such as solid cattle manure (SCM) resurge as an option to overcome this acidification problem and to provide the required blend of essential macro- and micronutrients for plant growth. We assessed the effects of earthworm density (400 or 700 m−2) at two levels of soil pH (ambient and increased), with or without application of solid cattle manure (SCM), on herbage nitrogen (N) uptake, and CO2 and N2O emissions over a period of 134 days using undisturbed soil cores from an acid peat grassland in a mesocosm experiment. Liming proved to be beneficial for earthworm performance and grassland productivity. A higher soil pH and earthworm density resulted in a higher soil biological activity measured as soil respiration. The combined application of lime and earthworms increased herbage apparent N recovery from SCM by 83% compared to SCM only. In the manured treatments, herbage N uptake was positively correlated with earthworm density (R2 = 0.92). N2O emissions increased by 37% when SCM was applied compared to the unfertilised control. Following SCM application, the cumulative increase in herbage N uptake was almost ten times greater than the measured total N2O losses. No relationship was observed between earthworm density and level of N2O emission. N mineralisation and herbage N uptake from SCM in acidic peat grasslands were greatly stimulated by the combined increase in soil pH and earthworm density. This stimulated the activity of soil biota, resulting in an increased herbage N recovery from the applied SCM.

The importance of solid cattle manure application on soil microorganisms in organic and conventional cultivation

Microbial communities are integral parts of the soil and their activity is very important to the functioning of the soil but the impact of different factors on soil microbial community composition is not well researched. Many studies have focused only on a few species. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of treatment and sampling date on soil pH, abundance of total number of bacteria, molds, yeasts, mesophilic spore-forming bacteria, Fusarium spp., actinomycetes, azotobacteria, cellulose decomposers, denitrifying and nitrifying bacteria in organically (ORGGRM – green manure, and ORGFYM – green manure, solid cattle manure) and conventionally (CONFYM – solid cattle manure + mineral fertilizer and pesticides) cultivated soil. Fertilization with manure had positive direct- and after-effect (p<0.05) on the total number of bacteria, mesophilic spore-forming bacteria, nitrifying bacteria and cellulose decomposers, even in the CONFYM treatment. The abundance of yeasts was higher (p<0.05) in ORGFYM treatment (3.35×103) and 34–48% lower in CONFYM and ORGGRM treatments. The abundance of molds, Fusarium spp., and actinomycetes during the study in different treatments was similar but their abundance was significantly higher (p<0.05) when the weather in the sampling time was warm and humid. The negative impact of pesticides in CONFYM treatment occurred on the total number of bacteria, yeasts, molds, and denitrifying bacteria. The yeasts were most sensitive to pesticides; in study years, when the use of pesticides was very intensive, their abundance in CONFYM treatment decreased 72% compared with the ORGFYM treatment. The 4-year test results showed that although green manuring is considered an important management practice in organic cultivation, to maintain and increase the abundance of microbes in different microbial communities it is important to use other organic fertilizers such as animal manure in addition to green manure.

Evaluating phosphorus loading from repeated manure applications to two Saskatchewansoils

An understanding of the impact of repeated manure additions on soil phosphorus (P) is needed to determine appropriate manure application rates for prairie soils and manure sources. The objective of this study was to assess the loading of manure-derived phosphorus using P budgets and soil P measurement techniques applied to two Saskatchewan soils with known histories of manure application. Liquid hog manure (LHM) and solid cattle manure (SCM) treatments were applied annually over 8 yr to Black Chernozemic soils (Dixon site), and LHM was applied to Dark Brown Chernozemic soils (Plenty site) over 6 yr. Soil samples were collected in the spring of 2003 and 2004 and analyzed for labile P (Modified Kelowna extractable, Olsen extractable, water extractable, and Plant Root Simulator exchange resin methods) and total P. The P budgets were in good agreement with the observed patterns in labile soil P at the two sites. The annual application of LHM (37000 L ha-1 yr-1) at agronomic nitrogen (N) rates with no additional P fertilizer (Dixon only) did not significantly elevate soil labile P compared with the unfertilized controls at both Dixon and Plenty. The annual application of SCM (7.6 Mg ha-1 yr-1) at agronomic N rates did not significantly elevate soil labile P compared with the unfertilized control at Dixon; whereas of SCM at higher rates (15.2 Mg ha-1 yr-1 and 30.4 Mg ha-1 yr-1) showed some elevation in labile soil P. Measures of labile P were sensitive to P surpluses or deficits predicted by P balances, and all methods of measuring labile soil P were strongly correlated with one another at both sites (r ≥ 0.803 at P ≤ 0.01). Key words: Manure, cattle manure, nitrogen, phosphorus, soil test phosphorus

The effect on earthworm abundance and selected soil properties after 14 years of solid cattle manure and NPKMg fertilizer application

Long-term manure application could increase soil earthworm abundance in cultivated soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of 14 yr (1977–1991) of manure and NPKMg fertilizer on earthworm populations, soil structural stability, N mineralization (NO3) and biological activity (CO2) on a Le Bras clay loam (Humic Gleysol) situated at St-Lambert, Quebec. The field experiment, in a split-plot design, consisted of two manure rates (0 Mg, 20 Mg ha−1) as principal treatments with secondary treatments receiving mineral fertilizer (NPKMg) and a control. These treatments were carried out over a 4-yr crop rotation of silage corn, (Zea mays L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and canola (Brassica campestris L.). Soil and earthworm sampling was done in fall 1991 under corn. Compared to mineral fertilizer treatment, long-term application of manure increased earthworm populations. However the interaction between the treatments of mineral fertilizer and of manure was not significant. Of the earthworms extracted by formalin and hand sorting, Aporrectodea genus was dominant in soil, representing 98–100% of the population. Several Allolobophora chlorotica and Lumbricus juveniles from the genus Lumbricus were found only in manured plots. Soil water stable aggregates and biological activity (CO2) were both increased by manure application. Mineral fertilizer application had no significant effect. A strong correlation was obtained only between earthworm abundance and biological activity (CO2). The results indicate that 14 yr application of solid cattle manure improved soil earthworm populations and diversity, biological activity (CO2) and structural stability compared to fertilizer treatments and the control. Key words: Earthworms, Aporrectodea turgida, manure, mineral fertilizer, organic matter, biological activity (CO2), N mineralization potential (NO3), water-stable aggregates

EFFETS DE L'APPORT PROLONGE DE FUMIER DE BOVINS SUR QUELQUES PROPRIETES PHYSIQUES ET BIOLOGIQUES D'UN LOAM LIMONEUX NEUBOIS SOUS CULTURE DE MAÏS

This study was undertaken to quantify the effects on long-term application of solid cattle manure on physical and biological properties of a Neubois silty loam. Rates of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 Mg ha−1 manure were applied every 2 yr to the soil cropped to corn. Significant improvements, proportional to application rates, of water-stable aggregation, bulk density, and water content of the soil were measured. These physical properties were highly correlated with the soil microflora (0.83 ≤ r ≤ 0.98). A positive interaction exists between physical and biological properties of soils following long-term manure application. Key words: Solid cattle manure, aggregation, bulk density, biological activity