ARS | Publication request: COMPARISON OF BROADCAST AND BAND APPLICATION OF POULTRY LITTER ON COTTON

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: January 4, 2005
Publication Date: May 1, 2005
Citation: Armstrong,S.D., Taylor, R.W., Tewolde, H., Rowe, D.E., Way, T., Sistani, K.R. 2005. COMPARISON OF BROADCAST AND BAND APPLICATION OF POULTRY LITTER ON COTTON [abstract]. Proceedings National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. p. 2613

Technical Abstract: Poultry litter contains nutrient compounds such as NH4 that are susceptible to volatilization loss when litter is surface-applied to fields as a fertilizer. Recently, researchers of the USDA-ARS at Auburn, AL designed and built a new implement that applies litter in bands under the soil surface. To compare the effect of the new subsurface band application to the conventional surface broadcast application of litter, field research was conducted at the North Farm of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Starkville, MS. Measurements were made of cotton yield and N uptake. Results showed that subsurface banding of litter 25 days after planting consistently improved plant N uptake throughout the growing season compared to either banding before planting or broadcasting litter before planting all at the same rates. Post-plant banding resulted in higher leaf N content on 4 of 4 sampling dates, higher N content in the stem on 3 of 4 sampling dates, and higher N content in reproductive plant parts on 2 of 4 dates, compared to subsurface banding or surface broadcast before planting. Apparent N recovery when litter was subsurface banded after planting at 6.7 Mg ha-1 was greater than when litter was surface applied before planting at 11.2 Mg ha-1. Subsurface banding of litter before or after planting produced slightly greater lint yield than surface-broadcast application before planting. This research suggests that subsurface banding is a promising new method of applying poultry litter to cotton.