ARS | Publication request: SWINE MANURE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES ON TILE-DRAINED SOILS

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 25, 2001
Publication Date: October 15, 2001
Citation: KARLEN, D.L., CAMBARDELLA, C.A. SWINE MANURE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES ON TILE-DRAINED SOILS. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRONOMY MEETINGS. 2001. CD-ROM. MADISON, WI.

Technical Abstract: A 6-year field research project was conducted to understand the challenges producers face when using liquid swine manure as their nutrient source for crop production. Achieving target rates of 134 or 157 kg N ha-1 for rotated or continuous corn was nearly impossible because of variability in total N and NH4-N concentrations. Actual rates ranged from 68 to 286 kg N ha-1, with low rates resulting in crop N deficiencies and high rates increasing N leaching loss. Establishing a site-specific manure database helped achieve desired N application rates. Grain removal accounted for 150, 65, and 122% of applied N, P, and K when crops were rotated, but only 39, 21, and 22% for continuous corn. Soil- test P and K were quite variable, increasing 20 and 82 mg kg-1 for continuous corn and declining 24 and 10 mg kg-1 with rotation. Total P and percent solids were well correlated, indicating P-based application could be developed using this relationship. We suggest that maintaining on-farm manure records, following a corn-soybean rotation, and monitoring through soil-testing will lead to environmentally sustainable liquid swine manure management.