Grass Forage Response to Broadcast or Surface‐Banded Liquid Dairy Manure and Nitrogen Fertilizer

Manure can provide valuable nutrients, especially N, for grass forage, but N availability is limited because of high NH 3 volatilization losses from standard surface‐broadcast application. Field experiments were conducted for 2 yr at two sites in Vermont to evaluate effects of broadcast or banded liquid dairy manure and broadcast N fertilizer on grass yield and N utilization. Treatments were applied to orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L.) on a well‐drained silt loam and to reed canarygrass ( Phalaris arundinacea L.) on a somewhat poorly drained clay soil. Manure was applied three or four times per year at rates of 25 or 50 m 3 ha −1 either by broadcasting or by trailing‐foot spreading in narrow bands. Fertilizer N was broadcast at 0, 28, 56, and 84 kg N ha −1 on separate plots at the same time as each manure application. Fertilizer N increased yields significantly to the medium rate (224 kg ha −1 yr −1 ) on orchardgrass and the high rate (252 kg ha −1 yr −1 ) on the reed canarygrass site. The high rate of banded manure produced 80 to 110% of the yields from the high N fertilizer rate. Yields from the trailing‐foot, banded manure application were 6 to 14% higher than those from broadcast manure in the two site‐years where method had a significant effect. Fertilizer N equivalence of manure averaged 44% with banded and 34% with broadcast application. We conclude that surface‐banding manure with a trailing‐foot applicator has the potential to provide benefits over conventional broadcast application by improving N utilization and increasing yield.