Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2020
Keywords
soil-phosphorus; management strategies; litter; quality; food
Abstract
Phosphorus distribution in pasture soils underlain with karst geology was determined on a 0.10-ha grid in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Two fields (Fields 1 and 12) received swine slurry from a concentrated animal feeding operation, whereas another (Field 5) received mineral fertilizer. All fields were grazed by cattle and periodically hayed. Mean Mehlich-3 extractable P in the top 10 cm increased (p ≤ .05 level) for Fields 1 (59–91 mg kg−1) and 12 (63–122 mg kg−1) between 2014 and 2018, with little change for Field 5 (45–47 mg kg−1). Over the 5-yr monitoring period, P and N runoff averaged a respective 1.0 and 2.4 kg ha−1 yr−1 from Fields 1 and 12 or 1.4 and 2.5% of P and N applied in swine slurry. Field 5 P and N runoff averaged a respective 1.9 and 2.8 kg ha−1 yr−1 or 6.6 and 4.4% of that applied as mineral fertilizer. Findings confirmed that long-term application of P, as fertilizer or manure, in excess of pasture uptake, result in a rapid accumulation of P near the soil surface, and thus, increase nutrient loss via surface runoff. Mehlich-3 P increased in the top 10 cm of soil (143–255 mg kg−1) in edge-of-field buffer zones of 30 m on Fields 1 and 12, where no manure was applied. This illustrates the complexity of cattle grazing areas as additional nutrient sources that must be managed to minimize off-site nutrient transport that are particularly important in karst watersheds.
Citation
Sharpley, A. N., Daniels, M. B., Brye, K. R., VanDevender, K., Burke, J., Berry, L. G., & Webb, P. (2020). Fate and Transport of Phosphorus-containing Land-applied Swine Slurry in a Karst Watershed. Agrosystems Geosciences & Environment, 3 (1) https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20096
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
