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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Kimberly, Idaho » Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #293125
Title: Use of a surrogate to evaluate the impact of tillage on the transport of steroid hormones from manure-amended agricultural fields

Author
item BISWAS, S. - University Of Nebraska
item KRANZ, W.L. - University Of Nebraska
item SHELTON, D.P. - University Of Nebraska
item MAMO, M. - University Of Nebraska
item SHAPIRO, C.A. - University Of Nebraska
item Tarkalson, David
item MADER, T.L. - University Of Nebraska
item SNOW, D.D. - University Of Nebraska
item BARTLETT-HUNT, S.L. - University Of Nebraska
item VAN DONK, S.J. - University Of Nebraska
item ZHANG, T.C. - University Of Nebraska

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2013
Publication Date: 8/1/2013
Citation: Biswas, S., Kranz, W., Shelton, D., Mamo, M., Shapiro, C., Tarkalson, D.D., Mader, T., Snow, D., Bartlett-Hunt, S., Van Donk, S., Zhang, T. 2013. Use of a surrogate to evaluate the impact of tillage on the transport of steroid hormones from manure-amended agricultural fields. Transactions of the ASABE. 56(4):1379-1385.

Interpretive Summary: Beef feedlot manure distributed to row crop production areas is a potential surface water contaminant source of steroid hormones commonly used in beef cattle production. This paper reports on research conducted at the University of Nebraska Haskell Agricultural Laboratory near Concord, NE. Because the detection frequency of steroid hormone in beef manure varies greatly, a surrogate hormone (17alpha-ethynylestradiol, EE2) was applied to beef cattle manure and the combination was applied to soil in a field. The EE2 and manure were either incorporated into the soil using a single disk pass or left on the soil surface in a no-till practice. Simulated rainfall was applied 24 hours after incorporation. Runoff samples were collected and analyzed for EE2. The disked plots had 96 percent less EE2 mass in runoff then the no-till plots. A single-pass disk tillage limited the overland transport of steroid hormones from crop production areas.

Technical Abstract: Beef feedlot manure distributed to row crop production areas is a potential surface water contaminant source of steroid hormones commonly used in beef cattle production. This paper reports on research conducted at the University of Nebraska Haskell Agricultural Laboratory near Concord, NE in July of 2009. Manure, collected from beef feedlot pens, was stockpiled for10 months prior to application to a row crop field. Previous research identified that the detection frequency of steroid hormone in beef manure varies greatly. Thus, a surrogate (17alpha-ethynylestradiol, EE2) was applied at a rate of 75 g per ha to ensure detectable concentrations in surface runoff samples. EE2 was applied directly to beef cattle manure and to bare soil. The EE2 and manure were either incorporated using a single disk treatment (T) or left on the soil surface in a no-till practice (NT). A rainfall simulation experiment was conducted 24-hours after manure and EE2 incorporation using a factorial design consisting of with and without tillage, manure, and EE2. Runoff samples were collected at 5 min intervals during a 30 min runoff period for each plot. Results indicated 96 percent less EE2 mass transport from disked tilled plots compared to no-till. The greatest loss of EE2 was 156 mg per ha and 6 mg per ha from no-till and disked plots, respectively. Use of the surrogate EE2 in this study allowed the evaluation of a single-pass disk tillage treatment as a means of limiting the overland transport of steroid hormones from crop production areas.