Harvesting fertilized rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop has been suggested as a method to increase producer revenue and biofuel feedstock production, but drainage N loss impacts are currently unknown. Using the tested Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) across several N rates, spring application of 120 kg N ha -1 prior to winter rye harvest reduced drainage N loss by 54% compared with no cover crop and by 18% compared with planted rye that was neither fertilized nor harvested. Estimates of producer revenue and net energy were also positive, with 8.3 Mg ha -1 of harvested rye biomass. If confirmed by field studies, these results suggest that double-cropping fertilized rye is a promising strategy to increase producer revenue, increase net energy production, and reduce drainage N loss.
Core Ideas• Fertilizing winter rye increased estimated revenue and harvestable biomass.• Fertilizing winter rye increased net energy production.• Harvesting fertilized winter rye reduced simulated drainage N loss.• Rye revenue in response to fertilizer rate plateaued at approximately 120 kg N ha −1 .• Field studies are needed to evaluate fertilized/ harvested rye cover crop.Abbreviations: CC, cover crop; CCH, unfertilized harvested cover crop; CCH_L_x, late harvest of fertilized cover crop; DM, dry matter; NCC, no cover crop.
Few studies have quantified nitrous oxide (NO) emissions from intensively managed turfgrass systems on golf courses. Fertilizer treatments consisting of urea with inhibitors of nitrification and urease (INU), polymer-coated urea (PCU), and uncoated balanced methylene urea (BMU) chain, which use different mechanisms to control the release of N substrate, were applied to a golf course fairway and rough three times during the 2011 growing season at a rate of 50 kg N ha per application. The vented chamber method was used to measure turf-soil-atmospheric NO exchange. Cumulative emissions from fairway INU, PCU, and BMU treatments totaled 6.5, 1.9, and 7.6 kg NO-N ha yr, representing a 4.02, 1.25, and 4.75% loss of total N applied, respectively. Summer INU and BMU fertilization to the fairway produced the greatest NO fluxes. Rapid fluxes during the summer were likely related to low physiological activity in cool-season turfgrass and to warm, wet soil conditions that increased denitrification rates. However, PCU applied to the fairway was more resistant to NO losses than other fertilizer treatments. Fertilizer treatments applied to the rough had cumulative emissions of 2.4, 1.50, and 1.49 kg NO-N ha yr from INU, PCU, and BMU treatments, corresponding to a 1.21, 0.62, and 0.61% loss of total N applied, respectively. The lower NO emission on roughs was likely associated with greater carbon pools, lower soil moisture, and lower temperatures. This study supports the effectiveness of PCU to reduce NO emission from cool-season turfgrass fairways when soil conditions favored denitrification during warm periods. Applying INU and BMU when soil was cool and dry was effective in moderating NO losses.
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