I hate to get started on what iswrong about most manure application systems. The classic system got the manure out on the fields in the off seasonand this allowed Mother Nature to have time to integrate the manure into thesoils.
The best fix for all this is toblend in a biochar fraction of say ten percent to adsorb free nutrients forlater usage. We will in the end do justthat once biochar is better understood.
In the meantime, over rich manuremust be sprayed on the fields and the nutrient surplus is washed away out ofreach.
Blending fresh manure with biocharmay actually allow the reduction of the manure itself to be accelerated in theheap itself without any fear of nutrient losses. Work needs to be done with that.
Improve Crop Yield By Removing Manure Solids
by Staff Writers
Manure has long been used as a crop fertilizer, but the challenge of finding anefficient use of the nutrients found in manure is ever present. The ratio ofnitrogen to phosphorus in manure is low in relation to the nutrient needs ofmost crops.
Therefore, crops tend to be overloaded with manure to meet the nitrogenrequirement of agriculturalcrops, but the excess phosphorus from the process can damage the environment.
In a study funded by agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, scientists atthe Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Agassiz, British Colombia, withcollaborators in Quebec City, Quebec, and Brandon, Manitoba tested theeffectiveness of removing solids from dairy manure to improve yield byincreasing the nitrogen tophosphorus ratio and reducing the loss of nitrogen by hastening soilinfiltration.
Solids were removed from the manure slurry in a passive two stagelagoon system, which resulted in the liquid fraction containing less dry matterand a higher nitrogen to phosphorus ratio than whole manure.
The results from the six-year study indicated that the liquid fractionallowed for a higher crop yield and 63% more nitrogen recovery than wholemanure at equal application rates.
These benefits were the most apparent in the mid-season harvests whendry summer weather conditions acceleratenitrogen loss through ammonia volatilization.
The slurry's higher nitrogen to phosphorus ratio prevented the soilfrom becoming overloaded with phosphorus.
Shabtai Bittman, the principal author of the study, said, "Theefficacy of the dairy slurry nitrogen was greatly improved by low-cost removalof slurry solids even when using a low-emission applicationtechnique. This significantly advances the cause of efficient use of manurenutrient by crops."
The full study is published in the January/February 2011 issue of theJournal of Environmental Quality.
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