Cheese Whey as an Amendment to Disturbed Lands: Effects on Soil Hydraulic Properties

Abstract

Whey, the liquid byproduct of cheese production, can improve minesoils by increasing the aggregate stability of soils high in sodium or susceptible to erosion. Whey effects on soil hydraulic properties, however, are not known. In this experiment, we determined whey effects on infiltration rates ( at water potentials of -30 = or less) and unsaturated hydraulic conductivities of surface soil horizons after a winter wheat(1/iticum aestivum L.) growing season. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with three replications of four liquid whey application treatments, totaling either 0, 202, 404, or 808 Mg/ha ( control, low, medium, and high, respectively). In Fall 1992 near Kimberly, ID, a field of Portneuf silt loam (Durixerollic Calciorthid) was leveled, subsoiled, then roller-harrowed twice. After planting Malcolm wheat on September 15, we furrowed all plots and then constructed a berm around each. At 3-week intervals beginning on May 19, 1993, either zero, one, two, or four flood applications of 202 Mg/ha of whey were made to each plot, without subsequent tillage. After August wheat harvest, a tension infiltrometer was used to measure vadose zone, unsaturated flow characteristics in the bottom of undisturbed furrows, where most whey had infiltrated. Infiltration rates at potentials of -60 and -150 mm decreased linearly as whey applications increased from 202 to 808 Mg/ha. At a potential of -60 mm, hydraulic conductivity increased but then decreased with whey additions. In short, soil hydraulic properties were little affected by surface whey additions of 404 Mg/ha or less.Additional

Irrigation-Induced Erosion

“…Various natural or "organically based" compounds have shown promise. These include polymer derivatives of starch, chitin, polysaccharides, cellulose microfibril suspensions, cheese whey, and other potential protein-based polymers (Robbins and Lehrsch, 1992;Lehrsch and Robbins, 1994;Brown et al, 1998;Orts et al, 1999Orts et al, , 2000Orts et al, , 2001Orts et al, , 2002. Currently the best of these polymers remain about one-fifth as effective per unit mass as PAM and are typically more expensive, although costs are expected to fall to compete with PAM when organic-based polymer production achieves economies of scale.…”

Assessing the Effects of Whey Hydrogel on Nutrient Stability in Soil and Yield of Leucosinapis alba and Hordeum vulgare

“…Among natural materials, the high nutrient content in acid whey, a dairy industry by-product, gives it the potential to be repurposed as an efficient fertilizer [39]. Direct whey valorization has been long-term investigated as a fertilizer [40][41][42][43] to find a sustainable way for its use [44], due to worldwide production of 115 million metric tons annually [45].…”