Long-Term Manure Application and Forages Reduce

Long-Term Manure Application and Forages Reduce Nitrogen Fertilizer Requirements of Silage Corn–Cereal Cropping Systems J. Nyiraneza,* M. H. Chantigny, A. N’Dayegamiye, and M. R. Laverdière

Nitrogen Management

ABSTRACT

Assessment of the soil N supply capacity is essential to optimize fertilizer N use. We investigated soil N supply capacity and fertilizer N recovery for three cropping systems established in 1977: silage corn (Zea mays L.)–cereal without (CC) and with 20 Mg ha–1 yr–1 manure (CCM), and silage corn–forage (3-yr) with manure (CFM). During the present study (2005–2008), manure applications were suspended and a silage corn–silage corn–barley (Hordeum vulgaris L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) sequence was imposed to all systems. Fertilizer (15NH415NO3, 3.1 atom % 15N) was applied in 2005 to silage corn (160 kg N ha−1) and in 2007 to barley (80 kg N ha−1). The 15N recovery in silage corn and barley ranged from 40 to 59%, with the lowest values measured in CFM. Compared to the CC systems (47 kg N ha−1) in 2005, soil-derived N in silage corn was two times higher under CCM (98 kg N ha–1), and four times higher under CFM (208 kg N ha–1). These differences decreased over years, but were still noticeable at the end of the experiment. Twenty-two to 58% of applied 15N was recovered in the soil at harvest. More than 50% of this residual N was present in macroaggregates (>0.25 mm), whereas CC. With respect to 2005, silage corn yield and N uptake were lower in 2006 because no N was applied. After the silage corn phase (2005 and 2006), barley was cultivated in 2007 followed by wheat in 2008. Barley dry matter yield (grain + straw) ranged from 6.2 to 8.1 Mg ha−1 in 2007 (Table 3). Long-term manure incorporation increased barley yield by 26 (CCM) to 30% (CFM) compared to the unmanured treatment (CC). Similar trends were observed with N uptake, which increased by 23 and 32% in CCM and CFM, respectively, compared to the CC system. Wheat dry matter yield (grain + straw) was low, ranging from 0.4 to 1.3 Mg ha−1 and N uptake from 4 to 15 kg N ha−1. Wheat yield and N uptake were low since no N was applied in 2008. However, wheat yield and N uptake followed similar trends as with barley with higher values associated with manured plots (CFM > CCM > CC).

Although manure application was stopped since 2004, crop yields and N uptake were consistently higher in the manured (CCM, CFM) than in the unmanured plots (CC). At the beginning of this study (2005), soil total N and organic C contents were higher and bulk density was lower in the CCM and CFM systems than in the CC system (Table 1). Our results therefore suggest that long-term manuring increased crop yield and N uptake because of a combination of improved soil physical properties and increased soil N stock, which is in line with previous findings (Estevez et al., 1996; Whalen et al., 2003; Arriaga and Lowery, 2003; Nyiraneza et al., 2009). In addition, the amounts of soil N present in macroaggregates and POM were significantly higher in CCM and CFM than in CC (Table 4). As C and N present in these soil fractions are generally considered labile (Elliott, 1986; Cambardella and Elliott, 1993), our results further suggest that long-term manuring increased the easily available soil N pool. Including a forage phase in the rotation of manured soils (CFM) further improved soil bulk density and macroaggregates and POM N contents (CCM; Tables 1 and 4), which could explain the generally higher crop yields and N uptake measured in CFM than in CCM (Table 3). Higher soil N availability was likely caused by the presence of N2 fixing species (red clover) in the forage phase, which likely increased the soil mineralizable N pool (Deng and Tabatabai, 2000; Sbih et al., 2003). Recovery of Nitrogen-15 Fertilizer in Crops Silage corn 15N recovery ranged from 40 to 60% on the year of fertilizer application (Table 3). These values are in agreement

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Table 4. Long-term effects of crop rotation and manure application† on N concentration in whole soil, macoraggregate sizes, and particulate organic matter (POM) as measured in silage corn plots in 2005 and 2006. Treatments‡

2005 2006 Whole soil POM 8–5 mm 5–2 mm 2–1 mm 1–0.25 mm Whole soil POM 8–5 mm 5–2 mm 2–1 mm 1–0.25 mm g N kg–1 CC 1.55 0.40b§ 1.40b 1.40b 1.46c 1.56c 1.26c 0.36b 1.13 1.13c 1.30c 1.06b CCM 1.89 0.50b 1.63b 1.80a 1.76b 1.86b 1.58b 0.53b 1.46 1.53b 1.53b 1.46ab CFM 2.27 1.13a 2.10a 2.06a 2.16a 2.3a 2.03a 0.76a 1.73 1.90a 2.10a 1.90a Treatment effects¶ 0.069 0.005 0.005 0.006 0.0026 0.002 0.003 0.037 0.061 0.0112 0.0006 0.024 † Manure and the forage phase were stopped during this study (2005–2008); last manure application was done in fall 2003 and the forage phase in CFM was plowed in fall 2004. The 15N fertilizer was applied only in 2005 and 2007, and residual effects were assessed in 2006 and 2008, respectively. ‡ CC: silage corn–cereal rotation without manure; CCM: silage corn–cereal rotation with manure; CFM: silage corn–forage rotation with manure. § Values followed by different letters within the same column are significantly different at P < 0.05. ¶ P value.

with those of Reddy and Reddy (1993), in North Carolina, who reported 15N recovery for corn (whole plant) ranging from 43 to 57% on a sandy loam. Similarly, Tran et al. (1997) reported 15N recoveries from 43 to 54% for corn grown in a silty loam and a sandy loam in eastern Canada, at fertilization rates varying from 60 to 180 kg N ha−1. In 2005, the amount of silage corn N derived from the soil (Eq. [1] and [2]) represented 34 to 76% of silage corn total N uptake. The contribution of soil to silage corn N uptake was two times higher under CFM (208 kg N ha−1) than under CCM (98 kg N ha−1), and four times higher than under CC (47 kg N ha−1) (Table 3). Our results further indicate that repeated applications of 20 Mg ha−1 dairy cattle manure (CCM) increased the soil N supply to silage corn by 51 kg N ha−1 compared to the unmanured soil (CC). Assuming that the manure effect was the same in CCM and CFM, our results indicate that the soil N supply to silage corn was further increased by 110 kg N ha−1 when silage corn was grown following a 3-yr forage phase. Although less fertilizer N was recovered in silage corn in the CFM than in the other treatments, there was more fertilizer N remaining in the soil of CFM at harvest (Table 3). As a result, the 15N recovered in the soil–plant system at harvest 2005 was similar across treatments. These findings indicate that the soil N supply capacity was high in the CFM and reduced crop reliance on fertilizer N. However, the unused fertilizer N remained in the soil and was likely immobilized and contributed to replenish the soil N reserve. Nitrogen fertilizer was not applied in 2006 to assess the fate of residual 15N. Silage corn 15N recovery was low for this specific year and ranged from 0.5 to 2.3% in all systems (Table 3). These findings are in agreement with previous studies where recoveries of residual 15N fertilizer were CC (Table 4). This is in agreement with Cambardella and Elliott (1993) who reported significantly higher organic N in soil macroaggregates under grassland than under arable cropping, and with Aoyama et al. (1999) who reported that manuring increased N content in macroaggregates. There was a decrease in macroaggregate and POM-N


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Fig. 3. The percentage of applied 15N recovered in macroaggregates and in particulate organic matter (POM) in 2005 and 2006 in silage corn–cereal rotation (CC), silage corn–cereal rotation with manure (CCM), and in silage corn– forage rotation with manure (CFM). Vertical bars within a group represent standard errors; columns within a year with different letters are different at P < 0.05. Manure and the forage phase were stopped during this study (2005–2008); last manure application was done in fall 2003 and the forage phase in CFM was plowed in fall 2004. The 15N fertilizer was applied only in 2005 and residual effect was assessed in 2006.

concentrations from fall 2005 to fall 2006, which was attributed to the progressive mineralization of (i) manure-derived N, which was not applied after fall 2003, (ii) N derived from the forage phase, which was plowed in fall 2004, and (iii) to the fact that no N fertilizer was applied to the microplots in 2006. About 5% of applied 15N was recovered in POM in fall 2005, and about 3% in fall 2006, with no significant differences among treatments (Fig. 3). This represented only 7 to 20% of the 15N recovered in the top 20 cm of soil. Compton and Boone (2002) indicated that the light fraction of soil organic matter, which is included in POM, was a strong shortterm sink for fertilizer N, as an average of 39% of added ammonium and 17% of added nitrate were recovered in this fraction after only 18 h of incubation. Similarly, Paré et al. (2008) demonstrated that a significant portion of N from ammoniumnitrate was assimilated and released as soluble organic forms within 14 d of application to various turfgrasses. The mechanism by which mineral fertilizer N is transferred to POM is not fully understood but is likely to depend on microbial immobilization and root absorption of applied N. Our results indicate that POM was not a strong sink for residual mineral fertilizer N, or that storage in that pool was only transient. In fall 2005, the sum of 15N recovered in all macroaggregate size classes was 26, 19, and 27% of applied 15N in CC, CCM, and CFM, respectively (Fig. 3), representing 60 to 90% of the total 15N recovered in the top 20 cm of soil at that time. The sum of 15N recovered in macroaggregates decreased over time and, in fall 1250

2006, was only 8 to 9% of initially applied 15N with no differences among cropping systems. Yet, the amount of 15N recovered in macroaggregates in fall 2006 represented more than 70% of total 15N recovered in the top 20 cm of soil. This finding is in agreement with the general decline in residual 15N in the whole soil (Fig. 1). Our results suggest that macroaggregates may be a preferential storage pool for residual fertilizer N, but that this N is not present in stable forms. Elliott (1986) showed that the organic N stored within macroaggregates was short-lived and rapidly decomposed on aggregate breakdown. In our case, aggregate breakdown may have been promoted by moldboard plowing in the fall and freeze– thaw cycles in winter. As discussed earlier for the whole soil, it is also possible that residual 15N stored within aggregates was mineralized, transformed in NO3 during winter, and lost through leaching and/or denitrification during snowmelt. Recoveries of 15N in macroaggregates (19–27%; Fig. 3) were greater than reported by Bosshard et al. (2008) who found 9% of 15N fertilizer in macroaggregates in a long-term study under temperate climate. We attribute our high recoveries to the dry sieving method used in the present study. Previous studies reported that most of 15N applied with labeled amendments was recovered in the microaggregates (23 μm–250 mm) and in the silt- and clay-size fractions (>53 μm) when wet sieving method was used (Kong et al., 2007; Bosshard et al., 2008). From these previous studies, and considering that 15N recovered in the dry-sieved macroaggregates decreased with time (Fig. 1, 2, and 3), we hypothesize that a significant portion of 15N recovered in dry-sieved macroaggregates was readily soluble. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that regular application of manure (20 Mg ha−1) and/or introducing forage in the rotation increased the soil N supply capacity and could reduce silage corn N fertilizer requirements by 50 to 100 kg N ha−1. Twentytwo to 58% of applied fertilizer N was still present in the whole soil at harvest. Of this residual fertilizer N, 0.25 mm). The amounts of residual fertilizer N in whole soil and macroaggregates decreased by up to 75% during the winter period, and little residual N was taken up by the following crop. These findings indicate that soil macroaggregates may be a preferential sink for residual fertilizer N, but this N is not present in stable forms, is vulnerable to environmental loss during winter, and little is transferred to the following crop. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors gratefully ackowledge the financial support provided by the Institut de Recherche et de Développement en Agroenvironnement (IRDA) and the technical assistance received from Anne Drapeau, Michel Noël, Jean Marie Noël, and Benoît Bolduc. REFERENCES Angers, D.A. 1992. Changes in soil aggregation and organic carbon under corn and alfalfa. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 56:1244–1249. Aoyama, M., D.A. Angers, A. N’Dayegamiye, and N. Bissonnette. 1999. Protected organic matter in water-stable aggregates as affected by fertilizer and manure applications. Can. J. Soil Sci. 79:419–425. Arriaga, J.F., and B. Lowery. 2003. Soil physical properties and crop productivity of an eroded soil amended with cattle manure. Soil Sci. 168:888–899.


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