Soil properties following long-term application of stockpiled feedlot manure containing straw or wood-chip bedding under barley silage production

Abstract

Miller, J. J., Beasley, B. W., Drury, C. F., Hao, X. and Larney, F. J. 2014. Soil properties following long-term application of stockpiled feedlot manure containing straw or wood-chip bedding under barley silage production. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 389–402. The influence of long-term land application of stockpiled feedlot manure (SM) containing either wood-chip (SM-WD) or straw (SM-ST) bedding on soil properties during the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) silage growing season is unknown. The main objective of our study was determine the effect of bedding material in stockpiled manure (i.e., SM-WD vs. SM-ST) on certain soil properties. A secondary objective was to determine if organic amendments affected certain soil properties compared with unamended soil. Stockpiled feedlot manure with SM-WD or SM-ST bedding at 77 Mg (dry wt) ha−1 yr−1 was annually applied for 13 to 14 yr to a clay loam soil in a replicated field experiment in southern Alberta. There was also an unamended control. Soil properties were measured every 2 wk during the 2011 and 2012 growing season. Properties included water-filled pore space (WFPS), total organic C and total N, NH4-N and NO3-N, water-soluble non-purgeable organic C (NPOC), water-soluble total N (WSTN), denitrification (acetylene inhibition method), and CO2 flux. The most consistent and significant (P≤0.05) bedding effects on soil properties in both years occurred for total organic C, C:N ratio, and WSTN. Total organic C and C:N ratio were generally greater for SM-WD than SM-ST, and the reverse trend occurred for WSTN. Bedding effects on other soil properties (WFPS, NH4-N, NO3-N, NPOC) occurred in 2012, but not in 2011. Total N, daily denitrification, and daily CO2 flux were generally unaffected by bedding material. Mean daily denitrification fluxes ranged from 0.9 to 1078 g N2O-N ha−1 d−1 for SM-ST, 0.8 to 326 g N2O-N ha−1 d−1 for SM-WD, and 0.6 to 250 g N2O-N ha−1 d−1 for the CON. Mean daily CO2 fluxes ranged from 5.3 to 43.4 kg CO2-C ha−1 d−1 for SM-WD, 5.5 to 26.0 kg CO2-C ha−1 d−1 for SM-ST, and from 0.5 to 6.8 kg CO2-C ha−1 d−1 for the CON. The findings from our study suggest that bedding material in feedlot manure may be a possible method to manage certain soil properties.

Soil Properties under Nitrogen‐ vs. Phosphorus‐Based Manure and Compost Management of Corn

“…2). Similarly, a positive linear relationship between soil respiration and SOC was reported by Kaiser et al (1992), Haney et al (2012), andMiller et al (2014), with R 2 values ranging from 0.35 to 0.70. Haney et al (2012) reported a stronger relationship (R 2 = 0.84) between soil respiration and water-extractable SOC than SOC.…”

“…Soil respiration is a reliable and useful indicator of easily decomposable organic C and an important indicator of soil quality and fertility (Haney et al, 2008;Monaco et al, 2008;Iovieno et al, 2009), and there is generally a positive linear relationship between soil respiration and SOC, with R 2 values ranging from 0.35 to 0.70 (Kaiser et al, 1992;Haney et al, 2012;Miller et al, 2014). Iovieno et al (2009) reported an increase in SOC with compost application after 3 yr and found that compost application increased soil respiration from 0.68 mg CO 2 g −1 dry weight h −1 (no compost applied) to 1.18 mg CO 2 g −1 dry weight h −1 when compost was applied at 45 Mg ha −1 yr −1 , reflecting the higher available C pool.…”

Surface Soil Salinity and Soluble Salts after 15 Applications of Composted or Stockpiled Manure with Straw or Wood-Chips

“…Annual beef manure application rates in this area range from approximately 13 to 57 Mg ha ¡1 (dry wt. ), with a mean value of 38 Mg ha ¡1 (Miller et al 2014). Our application rates were slightly lower than the rates (35-104 Mg ha ¡1 dry wt., 60-180 Mg ha ¡1 wet wt.)…”

Influence of long-term application of stockpiled feedlot manure with straw or wood-chip bedding on net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in a clay loam soil

“…However, it is unlikely that the greater soil Nm for ST than WD was caused by differences in total N of amendments as mean total N was very similar for stockpiled manure with ST (16.4 g kg −1 ) and WD (15.8 g kg −1 ) treatments (Miller et al 2009). The greater Nm rates for ST than WD were likely not caused by a greater supply of organic N. The total N concentration of the surface (0-15 cm) soil in 2011 and 2012 after 13-14 annual applications was similar for ST and WD with stockpiled manure (Miller et al 2014).…”

“…caused by a greater quantity of N in the more readily available (<14 d) and intermediate (14-308 d) mineralizable N pools, as well as the greater rate of N turnover (k value or rate coefficient) that was found for ST than WD after 8 yr (Sharifi et al 2014). In addition, significantly greater water-soluble total N and lower C:N ratios in ST-than WD-amended soils after 13-14 yr (Miller et al 2014) may have also contributed to greater Nm. Previous research has shown that Nm rates may be increased by greater water-soluble total N (Qafoku et al 2001;Morvan and Nicolardot 2009;Khalili and Nourbakhsh 2012) and lower C:N ratios (Eghball et al 2002;Qian and Schoenau 2002;Cabrera et al 2005).…”