Premium
Timing of Semisolid Dairy Manure Applications Does Not Affect Yield and Quality of Orchardgrass
Author(s) -
Cherney Jerome H.,
Ketterings Quirine M.,
Cherney Debbie J.,
Davis Michael H.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2009.0353
Subject(s) - dactylis glomerata , forage , manure , agronomy , dry matter , neutral detergent fiber , yield (engineering) , zoology , fertilizer , biology , poaceae , materials science , metallurgy
We studied the impact of semisolid dairy manure application rate and timing on yield and nutritive value of orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L.). Manure was applied at spring greenup and after all three harvests in seven treatment combinations, not exceeding 44.8 Mg ha −1 per application during the growing season. Recommended rate of N fertilizer was also included as a treatment, and all treatments were applied for five growing seasons. A three‐cut system was used, producing suitable forage for lactating dairy cows for cuts 1 and 2. Average dry matter (DM) yields for total seasonal manure applications of 44.8, 67.2, and 89.6 Mg ha −1 were 7.02, 7.89, and 9.10 Mg ha −1 , respectively. There was no significant effect of timing of manure applications on total DM yield, although there was a tendency for lower yields when manure was applied in the autumn. Manure applied at the seasonal rate of 179.2 Mg ha −1 resulted in greater DM yields than N fertilization by the second year of the study. Neither application rate nor timing of manure application had an impact on forage nutritive value. Strong correlations of neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD), relative forage quality (RFQ), and kg milk Mg −1 of forage DM (Milk Mg −1 ) with in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) suggest that NDFD, RFQ, and Milk Mg −1 provide little additional information beyond what is found in IVTD. We conclude that from a forage yield and nutritive value standpoint, timing of seasonal manure applications to orchardgrass is not a critical issue.