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Winter and growing season nitrogen mineralization from fall-applied composted or stockpiled solid dairy manure

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Abstract

Adequate characterization of nitrogen (N) mineralization with time from manure and other organic sources is needed to maximize manure N use efficiency, decrease producer costs, and protect groundwater quality. The objective of our 2-year field study at Parma, ID, was to quantify in situ N mineralization with time as affected by a one-time fall application of solid dairy manure, either composted or stockpiled. The experiment included five treatments: a non-N fertilized control, two first-year rates of stockpiled solid dairy manure (21.9 and 43.8 Mg ha−1, dry wt.) and two rates (53.1 and 106.1 Mg ha−1, dry wt.) of composted dairy manure (hereafter termed compost). Net N mineralized (mineralization less immobilization) was determined to a depth of 0.3 m by repeatedly measuring soil inorganic N (NH4-N + NO3-N) concentrations in buried polyethylene bags. Overwinter mineralization was measured between amendment incorporation in fall and sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.) planting the following spring. In-season mineralization was measured in situ for seven consecutive incubation periods during the c. 220-day growing season for furrow-irrigated sugarbeet. Net N mineralized often varied among amendments and from year to year through mid-season, likely due to seasonal variation in soil temperature, annual differences in amendment properties, and other factors. In early spring 2003 after a warmer-than-normal winter, immobilization exceeded mineralization, regardless of treatment. In-season net N mineralized peaked between mid-August and early September (DOYs 230–251) each year, regardless of treatment. Annual (c. 11-month) net N mineralized in 2003 averaged 52 kg N ha−1, similar among treatments. In 2004, annual net N mineralized was similar between rates within amendments and averaged 250 kg N ha−1 where manure treated, 150 kg N ha−1 where compost treated, and 106 kg N ha−1 where untreated. On average in 2004, 31 % of compost’s annual net N mineralized occurred before the growing season and 69 % during the season while essentially all of manure’s net N mineralized occurred during the season. None of the amendments’ total N was, in net, mineralized in 2003 but in 2004 on average, 2 % of compost’s and 16 % of manure’s total N was mineralized, similar between rates within amendments. When estimating annual net N mineralized from fall-applied organic amendments, one must account for abnormal temperatures, including those overwinter.

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Abbreviations

DAA:

Days after amendment application

DOY:

Day of year

NUE:

Nitrogen use efficiency

WFPS:

Water-filled pore space

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. Kate Cassity-Duffey and Dan Sullivan for reviewing an initial draft of the paper. We also thank Dr. Bruce Mackey, Albany, CA, for assisting with our statistical analyses, and Lindsey Balis-Cypriano, Percy Booth, Jim Foerster, Larry Freeborn, Roger Gibson, Paula Jolley, Myles Miller, Philip O’Connor, and John Rawluk for their able assistance in the field and laboratory.

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  1. Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, 3793 N. 3600 E., Kimberly, ID, 83341-5076, USA

    G. A. Lehrsch, R. D. Lentz & A. B. Leytem

  2. Parma Research and Extension Center, University of Idaho, 29603 U of I Lane, Parma, ID, 83660, USA

    B. Brown

  3. PSES Agricultural Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-2339, USA

    J. L. Johnson-Maynard

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  1. G. A. Lehrsch
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  2. B. Brown
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Correspondence to G. A. Lehrsch.

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B. Brown—Retired

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Lehrsch, G.A., Brown, B., Lentz, R.D. et al. Winter and growing season nitrogen mineralization from fall-applied composted or stockpiled solid dairy manure. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 104, 125–142 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-015-9755-9

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