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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #96417
Title: IMPACT OF SWINE MANURE APPLICATION ON GROUNDWATER QUALITY UNDER CONTINUOUS-CORN AND CORN-SOYBEAN PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Author
item KANWAR, R - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Karlen, Douglas
item Cambardella, Cynthia

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/22/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Field studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of swine manure application on N loss with subsurface drainage water. Reduced N fertilizer application rates of 112 and 135 kg/ha were used for corn-soybean and continuous corn production, respectively. Similar N application rates of 112 and 135 kg/ha from swine manure were used for both cropping systems. Experiments were conducted in north central Iowa using 0.4 ha plots. Results of this study show that yearly average nitrate-N concentrations in subsurface drainage water were significantly higher from manured plots than from the fertilized plots. However, yearly nitrate-N loading losses (kg/ha) were the same for manured and non-manured soils. The corn-soybean rotation system resulted in significantly lower nitrate-N concentrations in the subsurface drain water in comparison with the continuous corn production system. This indicates that manure application rates can be successfully managed for corn-soybean production systems with minimal impact to subsurface drainage water quality provided the correct manure rates are applied.