Author
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Powell, Joseph |
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Russelle, Michael |
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Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 7/15/2004 Publication Date: 10/31/2004 Citation: Powell, J.M., Russelle, M.P. 2004. Corralling dairy cows on cropland to enhance manure management [abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. CD-ROM. Paper No. 4680. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: For dairy herds fed mostly in confinement over one-half of manure nitrogen (N) may be lost in the barn and exercise lots. We are investigating the feasibility of corralling heifers directly on cropland for the purpose of capturing both feces and urine thereby enhancing N cycling and reducing costs of manure handling, storage and land application. We are using field plots and a factorial arrangement of two manure application methods, (1) corralling and (2) land-applied barn manure; two application rates, (1) 2 days of corralling or 2 days of barn manure and (2) 4 days of corralling or 4 days of barn manure; two application periods, (1) monthly applications during Oct-March and (2) during April-Sept; two cropping patterns, (1) corn silage (CS), rye, CS, rye, CS for Oct-March manure plots and wheat, sudangrass, rye, CS, rye, CS for April-Sept. manure plots. Average first year CS dry matter (DM) and N uptake in plots where heifers were corralled for 2 days during Oct-March were 33 and 48% greater than DM and N in plots where 2 days of barn manure was applied. Average wheat DM and N uptake in plots where heifers were corralled for 2 days during April-Sept were only 3 and 12% greater. Corralling for 4 nights depressed initial crop DM and N. The residual positive effects of 2 and 4 nights of corralling on crop DM and N were evident during the second and third years after application |
