Efficiency parameters of nitrogen in hog and cattle manure in the second year following application

Abstract

SummaryThe efficiency of nitrogen (N) derived from different manures in the years following application must be determined to optimize use of N and reduce impact on the environment. Five N efficiency parameters that were originally developed for commercial inorganic N fertilizers were selected to measure the manure N efficiency in the second year following application of liquid hog and solid cattle manure in semiarid east-central Saskatchewan, Canada. The manures were applied at two sites (Dixon and Burr) at four rates covering a range from zero to 912 kg N ha ±1 in 1997. A canola (Brassica napus L.) crop was grown in 1997 followed by a spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in 1998 without fertilization. Tested by the wheat, N utilization efficiency (NUE) was similar between the two manures at either site, but it was higher at Dixon site, where the soil properties were better, than at the Burr site (P < 0.07) with cattle manure. Nitrogen physiological efficiency (NPE) was not affected by either manure source or soil. At the Burr site, N agronomic efficiency (NAE) and N recovery rate (NRR) were all higher with the hog than with the cattle manure (P < 0.08 and P < 0.07, respectively), but N harvest index (NHI) was lower with the hog than with the cattle manure (P < 0.04). The similar trends of the NAE, NRR, and NHI between the hog and cattle manure were also found at the Dixon site. However, the differences in NRR between the hog and cattle manure in the second year was rather small in contrast to the large differences in the year of application. Despite that the wheat crop utilized residual hog and cattle manure N equally efficient in producing grain yield, a higher grain N concentration and a higher NHI with the cattle than with the hog manure revealed different N supply dynamics between the two. Possibly due to the low proportion of ammonium (NH 3 )-N in the total N and the high C : N ratio in the cattle manure, mineralization of cattle manure N provided more available N in the later stage of wheat growth than did the hog manure. The N efficiency parameters were useful tools in understanding the impact of residual manure N on wheat production on the Canadian prairies.Key words: liquid hog manure / solid cattle manure / nitrogen utilization efficiency / nitrogen physiological efficiency / nitrogen agronomic efficiency / nitrogen recovery rate / nitrogen harvest index PNSS P113/5B

Net Nitrogen Mineralization from Past Years' Manure and Fertilizer Applications

“…2a and 2b), the smaller R 2 values associated with Man-1× indicate that other factors besides manure age had a substantial impact on net N mineralization soon aft er application. Th ese may well be related to diff erences in manure characteristics that infl uence short-term mineralization and immobilization rates (Liang et al, 1996;Griffi n et al, 2005;Mallory and Griffi n, 2007), particularly in the fi rst year aft er manure application (Gallet et al, 2003;von Lützow et al, 2006;Wen et al, 2003). From the functions describing the change in relative net N mineralization (Fig.…”

Winter and growing season nitrogen mineralization from fall-applied composted or stockpiled solid dairy manure

“…Manure's agronomic N use efficiency (NUE), defined as the harvested mass of an agronomic crop per unit mass of manure N applied (Wen et al 2003), can be optimized by synchronizing N mineralization with plant N uptake Crothers 1980, 1993;Appel 1994;Schoenau and Davis 2006;Spiertz 2010). For example, incorporating organic sources in late fall, at lower soil temperatures, rather than in early fall at higher temperatures, slows or delays (1) N mineralization (van Es et al 2006), (2) nitrification (Brown 1988), or both.…”

Winter Wheat Yield, Quality, and Nitrogen Removal Following Compost- or Manure-Fertilized Sugarbeet

“…In the near term, manures with high carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratios can lead to N being immobilized instead of mineralized (Calderón et al 2004). Those same high C:N ratio organic amendments in the long term, however, may provide more mineralized N late in the second year for wheat (Wen et al 2003). In this and other ways, organic amendments typically benefit soil N fertility in the long term (Gutser et al 2005;Lentz and Lehrsch 2012b).…”

“…In this and other ways, organic amendments typically benefit soil N fertility in the long term (Gutser et al 2005;Lentz and Lehrsch 2012b). Since split N fertilizer applications that supply N later in the growing season increase grain N concentrations (Menezes, Gascho, and Hanna 1999), slow but sustained N mineralization from residual cattle manure may provide an extended supply of N to second-year wheat in its later growth stages (Wen et al 2003). This additional N from mineralization potentially could increase both wheat grain protein and the quality of breadmaking wheat (Montemurro, Convertini, and Ferri 2007), but decrease the quality of soft wheat classes (Brown et al 2005).…”

“…This additional N from mineralization potentially could increase both wheat grain protein and the quality of breadmaking wheat (Montemurro, Convertini, and Ferri 2007), but decrease the quality of soft wheat classes (Brown et al 2005). Much of the N needed by second-year spring wheat was supplied by the mineralization of organic N from manure applied to first-year canola, Brassica napus L. (Wen et al 2003).…”