TY - CONF
T1 - On-farm research to assess the use of manure, woody-biomass and coal char as land treatment practices to improve agricultural soil health in Nebraska
AU - Olivo, Agustin
AU - Schmidt, Amy
AU - Koelsch, Richard
AU - Henning, Eric
AU - Howard, Larry
AU - Ingram, Troy
AU - Lesoing, Gary
AU - Nygren, Aaron
AU - Saner, Randy
AU - Sivits, Sarah
AU - Timmerman, Amy
AU - Krienke, Brian
AU - Whitney, Todd
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© ASABE 2020 Annual International Meeting.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In nearly every production environment, there are opportunities to capture profits if waste streams can be further processed or enhanced to create “value added” products. This study investigated the impacts on soil characteristics and crop productivity of three traditional “waste” streams: livestock manure, cedar mulch from forestry management and coal char from sugar beet production. On-farm research studies were initiated in 2019 at four locations across the state of Nebraska to assess the impacts of these amendments on agricultural cropland. Study treatments included beef cattle manure (CM), beef cattle slurry (CS), coal char (CC), woody biomass (WB), cattle manure+woody biomass (CMWB), cattle slurry+woody biomass (CSWB), and cattle manure+coal char (CMCC). Soil chemical properties (SOM, pH, CEC, EC, NO3-N, P, K, S04-S, Ca, Mg, Na), soil physical properties (aggregate stability, bulk density, sorptivity) and corn yield were evaluated. Results indicate that single pre-plant manure applications can make significant contributions of macronutrients (N, P and K), constituting a reliable resource to replace inorganic fertilizers. No changes in crop yield were observed with manure applications, having N balanced between treatments. Depending on initial soil quality, manure also increased SOM, pH, and EC. Surface applications of woody biomass did not show evidence of soil acidification or N immobilization, although it induced soil nitrate reduction in top soil layers when incorporated after crop harvest in one research site. Soil physical properties were mostly unchanged under all treatments except coal char. This treatment significantly increased SOM and pH, and decreased bulk density. However, it also decreased crop yield.
AB - In nearly every production environment, there are opportunities to capture profits if waste streams can be further processed or enhanced to create “value added” products. This study investigated the impacts on soil characteristics and crop productivity of three traditional “waste” streams: livestock manure, cedar mulch from forestry management and coal char from sugar beet production. On-farm research studies were initiated in 2019 at four locations across the state of Nebraska to assess the impacts of these amendments on agricultural cropland. Study treatments included beef cattle manure (CM), beef cattle slurry (CS), coal char (CC), woody biomass (WB), cattle manure+woody biomass (CMWB), cattle slurry+woody biomass (CSWB), and cattle manure+coal char (CMCC). Soil chemical properties (SOM, pH, CEC, EC, NO3-N, P, K, S04-S, Ca, Mg, Na), soil physical properties (aggregate stability, bulk density, sorptivity) and corn yield were evaluated. Results indicate that single pre-plant manure applications can make significant contributions of macronutrients (N, P and K), constituting a reliable resource to replace inorganic fertilizers. No changes in crop yield were observed with manure applications, having N balanced between treatments. Depending on initial soil quality, manure also increased SOM, pH, and EC. Surface applications of woody biomass did not show evidence of soil acidification or N immobilization, although it induced soil nitrate reduction in top soil layers when incorporated after crop harvest in one research site. Soil physical properties were mostly unchanged under all treatments except coal char. This treatment significantly increased SOM and pH, and decreased bulk density. However, it also decreased crop yield.
KW - Beef manure
KW - Coal char
KW - Corn yield
KW - Soil quality
KW - Woody biomass
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096531165&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85096531165&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.13031/aim.202001297
DO - 10.13031/aim.202001297
M3 - Paper
AN - SCOPUS:85096531165
T2 - 2020 ASABE Annual International Meeting
Y2 - 13 July 2020 through 15 July 2020
ER -