Liquid swine manure as a sidedressed nitrogen source for corn

Abstract

Sidedressing liquid swine (Sus scrofa) manure (LSM) on corn (Zea mays L.) may provide additional time to apply manure and help better match crop-nutrient demand with nutrient supply. A 2-yr, on-farm study was conducted in Minnesota to assess three sidedress nutrient sources-injected LSM via dragline hose, anhydrous ammonia (AA), and urea ammonia nitrate (UAN)-against a non-sidedressed control. At planting, all treatments (including the control) received 46 kg N ha −1 as starter fertilizer. At sidedressing, 157 kg N ha −1 of available N was targeted for application with the different N sources at the fourth leaf collar stage of corn (V4). Sidedressing did not affect plant population compared with the non-sidedressed control in 2018, but sidedressed LSM reduced plant population by 6% relative to the control in 2019, likely due to wet soil conditions and manure injection settings that partially buried plants. In 2018, LSM produced comparable grain yield and net return to sidedressing costs as AA and UAN, despite lower soil ammonium and nitrate levels in the 0-to 15-cm soil layer approximately 12 d after application. In 2019, LSM led to 18-25% lower grain yield than AA and UAN and lower net returns because of a combined plant population reduction and an application of 50 kg plant available N ha −1 less than expected. Sidedressing corn with LSM is a viable alternative to commercial fertilizers, although to realize consistent results, better fine-tuning of application rate, depth, and speed under different soil moisture conditions may be needed. 1 INTRODUCTION Corn and swine production are major components of the agriculture sector in the U.S. Midwest. In 2019, the 12 states that make up this region planted 80% of the United Abbreviations: AA, anhydrous ammonia; DFS, days from sidedressing; LSM, liquid swine manure; PAN, plant available nitrogen; UAN, urea ammonium nitrate This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Dragging a manure hose over corn at early growth stages does not reduce yield

“…The authors reported using a dragline system to sidedress corn with manure reduced soil compaction, application time, and costs compared to tanker application (Arnold et al, 2018). Pfarr et al (2020) sidedressed corn with a dragline manure system in Minnesota and found grain yield was similar to sidedressed commercial fertilizers (anhydrous ammonia and UAN) in 1 of 2 yr. They reported technical and weather-related issues with application in the 2nd year, indicating that the practice still needs to be fine-tuned (Pfarr et al, 2020).…”

“…An * above a bar represents a significant difference from the control within hybrid and site-year at P < .05 farmers. Arnold (2015) and Pfarr et al (2020) reported that dragging a hose over corn while applying liquid swine manure increased grain moisture at harvest by 5 and 21 g kg −1 , respectively. These were lower than found in this study, although corn was dragged at V3 and V4, respectively, in those studies.…”

“…Another potential concern is that several researchers reported increased grain moisture when corn was dragged with a hose during manure application (Arnold, 2015;Pfarr et al, 2020), though it was unclear if this was due to plant damage from the manure hose, the liquid manure application itself, or both. This is an important consideration because grain moisture increases drying costs for farmers.…”

“…This reduces the risk of nitrate loss early in the spring from intense rain events and denitrification from waterlogged soils (Bakhsh et al., 2002; Luo et al., 2012; Randall & Vetsch, 2005). Several studies have successfully demonstrated that liquid manure can be sidedressed into corn when using different injection application systems (Arnold, 2015; Arnold et al., 2018; Ball Coelho et al., 2005; Deen et al., 2008; Pfarr et al., 2020).…”

Effects of Commercial Inorganic and Hog Waste Organic Fertilizer on the Growth Performance and Yield of Pechay (Brassica rapa)

“…Similarly, in Treatment 1, such decline may be due to the excess of nutrients present. According to [57] the increased rate of swine manure application increased the plant levels of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus along with the decline of recovery of plant nutrients, which may leech off potential pollutants to surface and ground waters [35], [58].…”