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Marginal increase in nitrate leaching under grass–clover leys by slurry and mineral fertilizer.
- Source :
- Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems; Feb2024, Vol. 128 Issue 1, p1-12, 12p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- On dairy farms, fertilization of grass-clover swards ensures stable grass yields but may increase the potential for nitrate leaching on light-textured soils. The aim of this study was to quantify the N use efficiency and nitrate leaching under fertilized grass-clover leys. The study was conducted over 2 years at two sites, with increasing applications of mineral fertilizer (0–480 kg available N ha<superscript>−1</superscript>) alone or in combination with a basic application of cattle slurry. For plots fertilized with mineral N, the N soil surface balance was independent of the application rate and in the same range as for unfertilized plots (− 11 to 51 kg N ha<superscript>−1</superscript>). However, when plots were fertilized with slurry N (+ mineral N), the surplus was substantially increased owing to the fraction of organic N applied in slurry (95–100 kg N ha<superscript>−1</superscript>) and higher biological N<subscript>2</subscript> fixation inputs (55–228 kg N ha<superscript>−1</superscript>). The type of fertilizer had no effect on nitrate leaching across the full range of application rates. Nitrate leaching increased quadratically as a function of application rate, with a range of 3–117 kg N ha<superscript>−1</superscript> (0.33–17 mg l<superscript>−1</superscript> in soil solution sampled with suction cups) in the first year and less in the second year, when clover proportion was lower due to the self-regulatory nature of grass-clover mixtures. Importantly, the rate of marginal leaching increased with fertilization level: below 150 kg N ha<superscript>−1</superscript> there was no additional leaching from fertilization and at 200 kg N ha<superscript>−1</superscript> around 5% of additional fertilizer-N was leached. This is less than generally found for arable crops and thus even in intensive dairy systems, grass-clover leys are an environmentally favorable crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 13851314
- Volume :
- 128
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 175566411
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-023-10327-4