Soil Nitrate Testing Protocol Development for Lands Receiving Injected Manure

Robb MeinenSenior Extension Associate, Penn State Dept. of Animal Science

Seeking PhD in Soil Sciencerjm134@psu.edu (814) 865-5986

NESARE Team - Doug Beegle, Heather Karsten, Peter Kleinman,Glenna Malcolm, Justin Dillon

CIG Team – Heather Karsten, Ron Hoover, Jeff Graybill, Mena Hautau, Mark Madden, Jennifer Bratthauer

Inject vs. Broadcast Manure in Corn1. Rock Springs – NESARE & Other plots

2. CIG Grant – Berks, Franklin, Lancaster Counties Shallow-disc injection equipment in 3 counties

2-3 cooperating sites/county/year

NESARE DAIRY CROPPING SYSTEMS

PROJECT

Shallow disk injection

Shallow Disk

30 in (adjustable)

4 in

Benefits of Injection

• Maintain soil cover – consistent with no-till standards of >30% soil surface disturbance

• Odor

• NH3 loss (volatilization)

• Dissolved P Runoff

• Total P Runoff

• High P / P-Index restricted fields – Better N balance

Tradeoffs

• Slower, Narrow swath width

• Requires more horsepower (up to 30%) & fuel

• More passes = more compaction???

• Equipment costs

• Contract haulers charge higher rate

• Not everyone wants a lower application rate

PSNT in Pennsylvania

Pre-Sidedress Nitrate Test for corn

• 12” soil core

• When corn is ~ 6 leaf stage (10-20”)

• Nitrate < 21 ppm means additional N fertilizer is needed

• Calculation conducted to determine N-rate

Objective

• The PSNT becomes suspect on grounds receiving manure injection. Random sampling near manure bands may give artificial confidence in NO3 availability, while samples away from bands may indicate unnecessary need for commercial fertilizer.

• The purpose of this work was to determine a PSNT sampling protocol for soils receiving injected manure.

Core Sample (12”)

Manure bands30” spacing

Hoping to develop PSNT protocol

for lands with banded injected manure

PSNT testing protocol in banded manure corn

needs definition.

Is there a sampling pattern that

producers can implement in any field?

Core Sample (12”)

Cross-sectionSample (30”)

Manure bands30” spacing

30”

12”

Video file of Monolith Sampler

Monolith Sampler allows careful dissection of soil profile in 1” cores.

2012 Monolith Site

Composite Sample N03

4 treatments

Treatment nMean Nitrate

(ppm)Standard Deviation

Control (no manure) 3 5.9 1.5

Broadcast Manure 3 8.3 1.7

Broadcast followed by Till 3 11.5 4.7

Shallow-disc Injection 3 13.2 2.8

-15……..-10………..-5…..-2…0.…2……5………..10………..15

-15……..-10………..-5…..-2…0.…2……5………..10………..151

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-15……..-10………..-5…..-2…0.…2……5………..10………..15

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-15……..-10………..-5…..-2…0.…2……5………..10………..15

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2-Point 15”-Spaced sampling considered at all points

along the 30” space.

We want a sampling protocolthat will not require the injection location to be located.

-15……..-10………..-5…..-2…0.…2……5………..10………..151

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-15…-12………….-6……………0.……..……6…………..12….15

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5-Point 6”-Spaced sampling compared to 2-Point sampling.

20 cores (4 sets) 6” are better than 20 cores (10 sets) 15”

-15…-12………….-6……………0.……..……6…………..12….15

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Both manners of sampling give the same mean = 17.05 ppm N03

Standard Deviations:• All samples without pairing 14.2• 2-Point sampling 11.9• 5-Point sampling 8.9

When we get to 20 cores…

SNYDER ROAD

BER

NV

ILLE

RO

AD

6 5 4 3 2 1

120 0 90 60 150 30 502 Inject

150 0 60 90 30 120 501 Broadcast

60 30 0 120 150 90 402 Broadcast

0 150 90 30 60 120 401 Inject

120 80 160 0 200 40 4 Control

90 0 60 150 30 120 302 Inject

90 60 150 120 30 0 301 Broadcast

60 90 0 30 120 150 202 Broadcast

30 120 60 90 0 150 201 Inject

80 0 160 200 120 40 3 Control

0 120 30 60 90 150 102 Inject

150 120 90 30 60 0 101 Broadcast

• Control (no manure) check plots at each site

• Fertilizer rates allow establishment of response curve

Data Collection of:• PSNT• Corn Stalk Nitrate• Yield

“Next Step” – Verification

1. Trade Show

2. Education

3. DemonstrationsChambersburg, PA

Hope to see you at the

2015 North American Manure Expo

July 14 – Tour Day

July 15 – Exposition Day

manureexpo.org

Questions?

Broadcast & Injection plots in Franklin County, PA