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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #87510
Title: SUBSURFACE DRAIN WATER QUALITY AS AFFECTED BY MANURE APPLICATION

Author
item KANWAR, RAMESH - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Karlen, Douglas
item Cambardella, Cynthia
item Colvin, Thomas
item PEDERSON, CARL - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: American Society of Agricultural Engineers Meetings Papers
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of manure application and innovative N management practices on ground water quality. These field studies were initiated in the fall of 1993 to evaluate the effects of alternative nitrogen (N), tillage, and crop management strategies on N loss to the shallow groundwater. The tillage and N management treatments included the use of the late-spring nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) test and a reduced N fertilizer application rate of 112 kg/ha applied to corn grown in a corn and soybean rotation with either no-till or chisel plowing as the primary tillage practice (Treatments 1 to 4). Swine manure was used as the N source for corn grown in rotation with no-till soybeans (Treatment 5). Alternate crop management strategies included continuous corn fertilized with either swine manure or 135 kg/ha of UAN (Treatments 6 and 7), a narrow-strip cropping configuration that included corn, soybeans, and oats followed by a N-fixing berseem clover crop (Treatment 8), and alfalfa (Treatment 9). The results of this study indicate that the use of swine manure, as a source of nutrients for corn-soybean production systems, has the potential to reduce negative water quality impacts with proper manure management.