Residual Effects of Dairy Cattle Manure on Plant Growth and Soil Properties¹

Abstract

Land spreading of dairy manure is effective both in disposing of waste and in utilizing plant nutrients in the manure. This study was conducted to determine the residual effect of manure after three annual applications at rates of 0, 22.5, 45, 90, 180, and 270 metric tons/ha were each incorporated into two soils. Plots were double‐cropped each of those 3 years with pearl millet [Pennisetum americanum (L.) K. Schum ‘Gahi I’] and rye (Secale cereale L. ‘Wren's Abruzzi’). During the residual phase of the experiment, plots were double‐cropped with rye and corn (Zea mays L. ‘Funks 5757’) for a period of 4 years. Residue from high application rates of dairy cattle manure increased yields of corn on both Dothan loamy sand (Plinthic Paleudults) and Lucedale sandy loam (Rhodic Paleudults) for 4 years after the manure was applied. On the Dothan soil high rates of manure adversely affected rye growth. Most years, the residue increased N uptake in both crops on both soils. The high rates of manure increased pH to a depth of over 100 cm on the Dothan soil. Potassium accumulated in the subsoil to the 100‐cm depth. Phosphorus was increased to the 60 to 75‐cm soil depth. Magnesium also moved into the subsoil, but there was little movement of Ca below the surface 30 cm. The effect on pH, K, P, and Mg movement was much smaller on the Lucedale soil than on the coarser‐textured Dothan soil. The high rates of manure increased soil pH and soil contents of K, Mg, and P and increased the cation exchange capacity of soils. These factors contribute toward higher crop yields on manure‐treated plots. Response to dairy manure may be measured for 4 years or more after high rates of manure applications have been stopped.

Long‐Term Tillage and Poultry Litter Impacts Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Mineralization and Fertility

“…Although this same interaction was not signifi cant for the corn cropping system, there were signifi cant main eff ects of depth (P < 0.0325) and fertilizer (P < 0.0001). Th us, PL addition accounted for 25% (soybean) and 39% (corn) more Mg at the 0-to 5-cm depth than plots with IF, which was in agreement with other reports (Lund and Doss, 1980;Chang et al, 1991).…”

Development of mint (Mentha piperita L.) grown on biosolids: evaluation of productivity and essential oil content

“…In the present work, the smaller leaf area showed by plants grown in the presence of biosolids at the beginning of the cycle can be attributed to a possible increase of soil pH, due to ammonia release from the decomposition of organic compounds present in the residue (Lund and Doss, 1980;Berton et al, 1989;Borges and Coutinho, 2004). This might had led to a lower availability of essential elements.…”

Agronomical and environmental evaluation of a long-term experiment with cattle slurry and supplemental inorganic N applications in silage maize

“…The tendency of increasing fertilizer replacement value with long-term application was also demonstrated by Ziegler (1994) and is due to the increasing after-effect of previous applied manure rates. Indeed, decay series for organic N in manures may show a strong decrease (Klausner et al, 1994), the addition of the small after-effects of repeated manure applications add up to an important extra-supply of mineralized N, also for a long time after slurry application (Lund and Doss, 1980;Werner et al, 1985).…”