The effect of cow urine, dairy shed effluent (DE), and urea fertiliser on
nitrate leaching was determined using undisturbed soil lysimeters (500 mm
diameter by 700 mm deep) with ryegrass
(Lolium perenne)–white clover
(Trifolium repens) pasture. Cow urine was applied to the
lysimeters, at rates of 0 and 1000 kg N/ha in May 1996. Urea and DE were
applied to urine-applied and non-urine-applied lysimeters at rates of 0, 200,
and 400 kg N/ha in 4 split equal applications in May, August, and November
1996 and February 1997. Natural rainfall was supplemented with simulated
rainfall in winter and spring (May–October) to achieve the 75th
percentile of winter–spring rainfall records in the region. Flood
irrigation was applied 6 times during summer–autumn
(November–April) at 100 mm per application, which is a typical practice
used by dairy farmers in the region. Drainage water was collected and analysed
for nitrate, nitrite, bromide (added tracer), and ammonium.
Over the first year of the experiment (May 1996–April 1997), 12%
of the urine-N applied was lost through leaching, mainly in nitrate form. When
urine (1000 kg N/ha) was applied in combination with DE (200 kg N/ha)
and urea (200 kg N/ha), the mineral N leaching loss increased to
14% of the total N applied. The annual average nitrate concentrations
in the drainage from the lysimeters that received urine alone, or
urine+DE and/or urea, were 33–57 mg N/L, with a mean peak
concentration of 110 mg N/L. These nitrate concentrations were
significantly higher than in those treatments that did not receive urine
(1–5 mg N/L).
Because, on average, about 25% of the area of a grazed dairy paddock
receives urine per year, the field-scale leaching losses were calculated by
taking into account the dilution effect of drainage water from non-urine patch
areas of the paddock. The calculated annual paddock losses were 33–60 kg
N/ha, and on average the annual paddock nitrate concentrations were
10–17 mg N/L. This demonstrates the importance of accounting for the
dilution of nitrate in the leachate from non-urine patch areas of the paddock.
The annual average concentration from the treatment DE at 400 kg N/ha was
significantly lower than that from the urea treatment at the same rate. This
was probably because of the different chemical forms of N in each material,
and needs to be taken into account when developing regional rules for land
application of urea and effluents.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.