Effects of Poultry Manure Application on Phosphorus in Soil and Tile Drain Water Under a Corn-Soybean Rotation

Abstract

Long-term application of manure can lead to phosphorus accumulation in the soil and increase the risk of P delivery to tile drainage waters. A long-term study (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)) was conducted on eight tile-drained field plots, ranging in size from 0.19 to 0.47 ha, to investigate the effects of long-term surface application of poultry manure on soil phosphorus dynamics and PO4-P loss in tile drainage in Iowa under a corn-soybean rotation system. The experimental treatments included two poultry manure treatments, applied on an N basis at target rates of 168 kg N ha−1 (PM) and 336 kg N ha−1 (PM2), each with three replications, and one chemical fertilizer treatment of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) at a rate of 168 kg N ha−1 with two replications. Actual manure application rates and estimated plant available N (PAN) varied annually. Bray1-P methods were used to analyze deep core soil samples at five depths (0-15, 15-30, 30-60, 60-90, and 90-120 cm), which were collected in the spring and fall on the half of each plot planted to corn. Tile drainage samples were collected from each actively draining plot equipped throughout the spring and fall drainage season each year, and PO4-P concentrations were analyzed. The results of this study indicated PM2 and PM resulted in a statistically significant increase in topsoil P at 0-30 cm, with no significant movement of P to deeper soil depths. Although an increase in topsoil P levels was observed with poultry manure application, average annual tile drainage P concentrations were not statistically different throughout the study with average PO4-P concentrations of 0.019 ppm with PM2 application and 0.011 and 0.012 ppm for PM and UAN, respectively. Poultry manure application at agronomical recommended application rates may be an environmentally sound fertilizer option for tile drained fine-loamy, calcareous soils under a corn-soybean rotation. However, surface runoff was not evaluated in this study, and high P levels in topsoil could contribute to elevated PO4-P runoff losses. Abstract. Long-term application of manure can lead to phosphorus accumulation in the soil and increase the risk of P delivery to tile drainage waters. A long-term study (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)) was conducted on eight tile drained field plots, ranging in size from 0.19 ha to 0.47 ha, to investigate the effects of long-term surface application of poultry manure on soil phosphorus dynamics and PO4-P loss in tile drainage in Iowa under a corn-soybean rotation system. The experimental treatments included two poultry manure treatments, applied on an N-basis at target rates of 168 kg N ha -1 (PM) and 336 kg N ha -1 (PM2), each with 3 replications; and one chemical fertilizer treatment of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) at a rate of 168 kg N ha -1 with 2 replications. Actual manure application rates and estimated plant available N (PAN) varied annually. Bray1-P methods were used to analyze deep core soil sample...

Catchment‐scale Phosphorus Export through Surface and Drainage Pathways

“…S5) ranged from 0.001 to 1.177 mg P L −1 . Soils in the region are dominated by the Clarion (fine‐loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludolls)–Nicollet (fine‐loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Hapludolls)–Webster (fine‐loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Endoaquolls) soil association (Supplemental Table S1), which were formed in glacial till under prairie vegetation and typically have high P sorption capacity (Hoover et al, 2015). Furthermore, no surface intakes were identified in the BHL subwatersheds during a windshield survey and communications with the watershed coordinator.…”

“…S4). Median EFW and BFW Table S1), which were formed in glacial till under prairie vegetation and typically have high P sorption capacity (Hoover et al, 2015). Furthermore, no surface intakes were identified in the BHL subwatersheds during a windshield survey and communications with the watershed coordinator.…”

Long term effect of poultry manure application on water quality, yield under a corn-corn system in Iowa

“…PM and PM2 have higher soil test phosphorous for 0-15 cm soil than 15-30 cm soil. This is consistent with the finding from long-term soil sampling at the same site under a corn-soy rotation from 1998-2009 (Hoover et al, 2015). For UAN treated plots, different soil sampling depths have similarly low soil test phosphorous concentrations.…”

“…The center tile drain was taken as a dividing line for planting, with corn planted in the north half part and soybeans in south half part of each plot in even years, while the opposite planting of corn and soybean in odd years (Cheatham, 2003;Nguyen et al, 2013;Hruby, 2014;Hoover et al, 2015). In 2010, all plots were converted to a corn on corn rotation.…”

Analysis of the MANAGE Drain Concentration Database to Evaluate Agricultural Management Effects on Drainage Water Nutrient Concentrations

“…The highest annual flow-weighted mean NO3-N concentrations compiled in the MANAGE Drain Concentration database were from corn (14.0 mg L -1 ), corn and soybean grown within the same plot (13.5 mg L -1 ; e.g., Helmers et al, 2012;Hoover et al, 2015), and soybean (12.1 mg L -1 ; fig. 1).…”