The impacts of nitrogen fertilisation and increased stocking rate on pasture yield, soil physical condition and nutrient losses in drainage from a cattle‐grazed pasture

Monaghan, Rachel; Paton, R. J.; Smith, L. C.; Drewry, John; Littlejohn, R. P.

doi:10.1080/00288233.2005.9513652

Cited by 110 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The benefits of improved forage yield and land use efficiency under management intensive grazing practices have been well documented (Gammon, 1978;Oates et al, 2011;Parker et al, 1992). Pasture yields typically increase with irrigation (Waldron et al, 2002) or fertilization (Monaghan et al, 2005). Additionally, Pelletier et al (2010) demonstrated that improved forage utilization was positively correlated with reduced GHG emissions per kg of beef.…”

Section: Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing diet and pasture management to improve sustainability of U.S. beef production

White

Brady

Capper³

et al. 2014

Agricultural Systems

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a b s t r a c tSystem sustainability balances environmental impact, economic viability and social acceptability. Assessment methods to investigate impacts of enterprise management and consumer decisions on sustainability of beef cattle operations are critically needed. Tools of this nature are especially important given the predictions of climate variability and the dependence of beef production systems on forage availability. A model optimizing nutritional and pasture management was created to examine the environmental impact of beef production. The model integrated modules calculating cradle-to-farm gate environmental impact, diet cost, pasture growth and willingness to pay (WTP). Least-cost diet and pasture management options served as a baseline to which environmental-impact reducing scenarios were compared. Economic viability was ensured by a constraint limiting change in diet cost to less than consumer WTP. Increased WTP was associated with improved social acceptability. Model outputs were evaluated by comparing to published data. Sensitivity analysis of the WTP constraint was conducted. A series of scenarios then examined how forecasted changes in precipitation patterns might alter forage supply and opportunities to reduce environmental impact in three regions in the United States. On a national scale, single-objective optimization indicated individual reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG), land use and water use of 3.6%, 5.4% and 4.3% were possible by changing diets. Multi-objective optimization demonstrated that GHG, land and water use could be simultaneously reduced by 2.3%. To achieve this change, cow-calf diets relied on grass hay, continuously-or rotationally-grazed irrigated and fertilized pasture as well as rotationally-grazed pasture. Stocker diets used rotationally-grazed, irrigated and fertilized pasture and feedlot diets used grass hay as a forage source. The model was sensitive to consumer WTP. When alternative precipitation patterns were simulated, opportunities to decrease the environmental impact of beef production in the Pacific Northwest and Texas were reduced by precipitation changes; whereas opportunities in the Midwest improved. Economic viability, rather than biological limitations, reduced the potential to improve environmental impact under future precipitation scenarios. Decreased spring rainfall resulted in lower pasture yields and required greater use of stored forages. Related increases in diet cost reduced opportunities to appropriate funds toward investment in environmental-impact reducing pasture management strategies. The model developed in this study is a robust tool that can be used to assess the impacts of enterprise management and consumer decisions on beef production sustainability.

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Section: Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing diet and pasture management to improve sustainability of U.S. beef production

White

Brady

Capper³

et al. 2014

Agricultural Systems

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“…(1 yr (1 (Campkin 1985; Morton et al 2004;Monaghan et al 1999Monaghan et al , 2005Early et al 1998). …”

Section: K Buffer Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The diagnosis and correction of potassium deficiency in New Zealand pastoral soils: a review

Edmeades

Morton²,

Waller

et al. 2010

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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Field-trial data from a database comprising records of 804 potassium (K) fertiliser trials were used to define the production functions relating exchangeable soil K (quick test K (QTK) 0Á75 mm) to the relative response to fertiliser K applications, for the major soil groups in New Zealand. For all soil groups for which there were sufficient data, the production functions were generally flat in the range QTK 5Á10, and thus the estimated relative pasture production at QTK 5 and QTK 10 were similar. The critical QTK levels to achieve 97% maximum production were relatively well defined, being 6 (5Á8) for sedimentary soils (brown and pallic) and brown soils, and 7 (5Á10) for pumice soils. The data for the allophanic soils were unstable and the best estimate was 6 (5Á10). For the remaining soils groups (podzols and raw soils, organic, recent and gley soils) for which there was much less data, the relationships were essentially flat over the range QTK 2Á10. The probability of pasture responses to applied K increased as soil QTK decreased from 10. For the sedimentary and volcanic soils (including both allophanic and pumice) the probability was about 70Á80% at soil QTK B2. The comparable probabilities were 50Á60% for the recent and gley soils, and 30Á43% for the podzols and raw soils. A feature of the response functions was that some trials were not responsive to fertiliser K despite having low soil QTK. In most cases this could not be attributed to soil K reserves as measured by the soil TBK test (sodium tetra-phenol-boron extractable which measures exchangeable K plus plant-available but non-exchangeable K). Other possible reasons for this feature in the data are discussed, including uptake of K from below the soil sampling depth and the temporal effects of clover responses to applied K. Soil K buffer capacities*the amount of fertiliser K over and above maintenance required to increase soil QTK by 1 unit (DK)*ranged from 50 to 150 kg K ha (1 (average 124) for sedimentary soils. For some soils (developed organic soils, gleyed soils and podzols), fertiliser K had very little effect on QTK (0Á75 mm). It is not clear whether these differences are due to differences in leaching of K from the sampling depth, differences between soils in their ability to absorb and retain applied K or indeed the result of errors in the measurement of this parameter. Estimated maintenance K requirements (i.e. the amount of applied K required to maintain soil QTK levels) increased with increasing soil QTK from 4 to 10, from 0Á150 kg K ha(1 yr (1 to 100Á300 kg K ha (1 yr (1 in situations where losses of K were extreme due to the removal of all harvested clippings. Given the uncertainties in predicting K responses and the amount of fertiliser K required to correct K deficiency, practical suggestions are offered as to how best to diagnose and manage soil K deficiency. Areas for future research to improve the prediction of pasture responses to fertiliser K are also included.

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“…in Southland, cows are usually wintered off the milking platform. From early lactation (spring), cows are commonly rotationally grazed on pasture, at the time when soils are most prone to animal treading damage (Monaghan et al 2005;Drewry 2006). Treading damage is evident in three forms: poaching, compaction and pugging.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing strategies to protect soil physical properties and maximise pasture yield on a Southland dairy farm

Houlbrooke¹,

Drewry²,

Monaghan³

et al. 2009

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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intensive dairy cattle grazing on wet soil can have a detrimental effect on soil physical quality and consequently on pasture production. Soil physical properties (porosity, bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity) of a Pallic soil (Pukemutu silt loam) and pasture production were assessed on a dairy farm in Southland, New Zealand, under a number of different cattle grazing strategies: (i) normal grazing management on undrained land, (ii) normal grazing practice on drained land, (iii) restricted autumn grazing, (iv) restricted grazing when soil conditions were wet, (v) never pugged, and (vi) never grazed. a hand-pushed cone penetrometer determined treatments (iv) and (v). Soil macroporosity was significantly greater (P < 0.05) on the never grazed plot than all other treatments at post-spring sampling each year. There were no significant differences in any soil physical properties measured on cattle grazed treatments. Spring pasture yield from the never grazed treatment was greater (P < 0.05) than the drained and undrained standard practice grazing treatments for one of the three seasons. The lack of treatment differences in soil physical properties and pasture yield from grazing treatments suggests that the never pugged grazing strategy failed to prevent soil compaction by dairy cows. To some extent this is expected as soil compaction occurs at soil water contents lower than the thresholds for pugging damage. However, the large number of grazing events when soil conditions were considered safe according to the never pugged treatment protocol, but when soil water content was greater than the plastic limit, probably contributed to both soil treading damage and compaction during the traditionally wet early spring period.

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The impacts of nitrogen fertilisation and increased stocking rate on pasture yield, soil physical condition and nutrient losses in drainage from a cattle‐grazed pasture

Cited by 110 publications

References 31 publications

Optimizing diet and pasture management to improve sustainability of U.S. beef production

Optimizing diet and pasture management to improve sustainability of U.S. beef production

The diagnosis and correction of potassium deficiency in New Zealand pastoral soils: a review

Grazing strategies to protect soil physical properties and maximise pasture yield on a Southland dairy farm

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