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Nitrate Leaching from Cattle Urine and Feces in Northeast USA
Author(s) -
Stout W. L.,
Schnabel R. R.,
Priddy W. E.,
Elwinger G. F.,
Fales S. A.,
Muller L. D.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1997.03615995006100060034x
Subject(s) - grazing , dactylis glomerata , lysimeter , loam , leaching (pedology) , environmental science , forage , zoology , feces , agronomy , stocking , soil water , hydrology (agriculture) , poaceae , biology , ecology , geology , soil science , geotechnical engineering
Management intensive grazing (MIG) is a grazing system in which animals at a high stocking density are rotated frequently through a series of paddocks in a manner that maximizes both forage yield and quality. Although MIG has the potential to increase dairy farm profitability in the U.S. Northeast, the uneven recycling of N through feces and urine can increase NO 3 ‐N leaching. The extent to which NO 3 ‐N can leach from beneath urine and fecal spots under soil and climatic conditions of the Northeast is not known. We conducted a field study to measure NO 3 ‐N leaching loss from spring‐, summer‐, and fall‐applied urine and summer‐applied fecal beneath N‐fertilized orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L., cv. Pennlate) using 60‐cm‐diameter by 90‐cm‐deep drainage lysimeters. The study site was located in central Pennsylvania on a Hagerstown silt loam soil (fine, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludalf). Averaged across the 3 yr of the study, NO 3 ‐N losses were 1.17, 1.68, 22.0, 24.0, and 31.5 g m ‐2 for the control, feces, and spring‐, summer‐, and fall‐applied urine, respectively. These losses represent about 2% of the N applied in the feces and about 18, 28, and 31% of the spring‐, summer‐, and fall‐applied urine N. If dairy farmers in the Northeast continue to increase the utilization of MIG, the amount of N leached to the groundwater from beneath pastures could become substantial if not mitigated by improved grazing management.