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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Bowling Green, Kentucky » Food Animal Environmental Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #217227
Title: Soil nutrient evaluation from swine effluent application to five forage-system practices

Author
item Sistani, Karamat
item McLaughlin, Michael
item Brink, Geoffrey

Submitted to: Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/17/2008
Publication Date: 10/31/2008
Citation: Sistani, K.R., Mclaughlin, M.R., Brink, G.E. 2008. Soil nutrient evaluation from swine effluent application to five forage-system practices. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 82:265-271.

Interpretive Summary: The practice of using cool-season annual species overseeded in bermudagrass, a warm-season perennial has many advantages including removing nutrients from soil during bermudagrass dormancy in winter months, and also providing nearly year-round forage production for grazing or haying. It may also be used as justification for the extended application of effluent beyond the time limit mandated by Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Code 359. Generally annual and perennial forage crops serve as an important component of nutrient management plans for farms where animal manure is routinely applied. An experiment was conducted to investigate the nutrient status of the soil under the year-round pasture production system consisting of three cool-season annuals overseeded in common bermudagrass. Bermudagrass dry matter production (3-yr average = 4.3 ton/acre) was not adversely affected by the overseeding treatments. Bermudagrass overseeded with ryegrass produced greater dry matter (3-yr average = 5.0 ton/acre). Nutrient. Nutrient concentrations in soil and lysimeter leachate were directly related to the quantity of effluent applied. Results demonstrated that double cropping bermudagrass with a cool-season annual is a better practice than growing bermudagrass alone, but, the effluent nutrient application must be coordinated with the nutrient requirements of the growing forages in order to minimize the build up or leaching of any nutrient in the soil.

Technical Abstract: A 3-yr study was conducted to investigate the impact of forage double-cropping on nutrient accumulation and leaching in Mantachie fine loam soil fertilized with swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) waste lagoon effluent as the sole source of plant nutrients. Plots of Tifton 44 bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] were overseeded in the fall with one of four cool-season winter annuals: berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.); crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.); ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.); or wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Control plots were not overseeded. Tifton 44 bermudagrass as control on the soil. Plots were cut in spring for cool-season annual hay and in summer for bermudagrass hay. Bermudagrass dry matter production (3-yr average = 9.8 Mg ha-1) was not adversely affected by the overseeding treatments. Bermudagrass overseeded with ryegrass produced greater dry matter (3-yr average = 11.3 Mg ha-1). Nutrient concentrations in soil and lysimeter leachate were directly related to the quantity of effluent applied. Results demonstrated that double cropping bermudagrass with a cool-season annual is a better practice than growing bermudagrass alone, but, the effluent nutrient application must be coordinated with the nutrient requirements of the growing forages in order to minimize the build up or leaching of any nutrient in the soil.