Interactions between Soil Texture and Placement of Dairy Slurry Application: I. Flow Characteristics and Leaching of Nonreactive Components

Abstract

Land application of manure can exacerbate nutrient and contaminant transfers to the aquatic environment. This study examined the effect of injecting a dairy cattle (Bostaurus L.) manure slurry on mobilization and leaching of dissolved, nonreactive slurry components across a range of agricultural soils. We compared leaching of slurry-applied bromide through intact soil columns (20 cm diam., 20 cm high) of differing textures following surface application or injection of slurry. The volumetric fraction of soil pores >30 microm ranged from 43% in a loamy sand to 28% in a sandy loam and 15% in a loam-textured soil. Smaller active flow volumes and higher proportions of preferential flow were observed with increasing soil clay content. Injection of slurry in the loam soil significantly enhanced diffusion of applied bromide into the large fraction of small pores compared with surface application. The resulting physical protection against leaching of bromide was reflected by 60.2% of the bromide tracer was recovered in the effluent after injection, compared with 80.6% recovery after surface application. No effect of slurry injection was observed in the loamy sand and sandy loam soils. Our findings point to soil texture as an important factor influencing leaching of dissolved, nonreactive slurry components in soils amended with manure slurry.

Differences in preferential flow with antecedent moisture conditions and soil texture: Implications for subsurface P transport

“…Indeed, our results showed deep infiltration into clay soils through preferential flow with very low interaction. This is consistent with other literature that has shown preferential flow to increase in occurrence in soils with increasing clay content (Djodjic et al, ; Glaesner et al, ). Grant et al () also found preferential flow to occur through clay soil, under both frozen and thawed conditions.…”

“…Additional work has shown that the subsurface placement of nutrients can reduce P loss in surface run‐off (Smith et al, ) and subsurface drainage (Grant, Macrae, Rezanezhad, & Lam, ; Williams, King, Duncan, Pease, & Penn, ). The placement of nutrients in the subsurface may increase the interaction between applied nutrients and the soil, thereby increasing chemical retention of nutrients in the soil (Glaesner, Kjaergaard, Rubaek, & Magid, ; Williams et al, ), whereas nutrients broadcast over no‐till soils have little contact with the soil and can easily be lost (Feyereisen et al, ; Kleinman et al, ). Further, it has been suggested that placement of nutrients in the subsurface reduces the risk of contact of applied nutrients with preferential flowpaths, therefore limiting nutrient leaching (Glaesner, Kjaergaard, Rubaek, & Magid, ).…”

Persistence and Leaching Potential of Microorganisms and Mineral N in Animal Manure Applied to Intact Soil Columns

“…The plot had not received any animal manure in the previous 2 years. Sampling was done using stainless steel cylinders (length, 20 cm; diameter, 20 cm) as described previously (33). The soil columns were slowly saturated and then drained to a soil water potential of Ϫ100 hPa, i.e., close to field capacity for this soil.…”

“…The initial 1-week delay between slurry application and IE1 was chosen to simulate conditions in the field where slurry is typically applied during a dry spell in spring. Artificial rainwater (0.1 mM NaCl, 0.01 mM CaCl 2 Ϫ1 was applied using a rain simulator (33,36). During these events the soil columns with or without slurry rested on a glass filter disc of 60-to 100-m pore size and 1.6-cm thickness (ROBU; Glasfilter Geräte GMBH, Germany).…”

Soil phosphorus dynamics along a loess–limestone transect in Mihla, Thuringia (Germany)

“…). Like on the middle slope, the silty substrata can hold high amounts of immobile water ( Blume et al, ; Glaesner et al, ). This favors intensive P mobilization and, after drying, the formation of P dHCl .…”