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ARS Home » Plains Area » Brookings, South Dakota » Integrated Cropping Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #322049

Title: Reducing nutrient movement in manure-treated, tile-drained fields

Author
item Schneider, Sharon
item Feyereisen, Gary
item Baker, John
item Wente, Christopher - Chris

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/12/2015
Publication Date: 5/12/2015
Citation: Papiernik, S.K., Feyereisen, G.W., Baker, J.M., Wente, C.D. 2015. Reducing nutrient movement in manure-treated, tile-drained fields [abstract]. American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, August 16-20, 2015. Available: https://ep70.eventpilotadmin.com/web/page.php?page=IntHtml&project=ACS15fall&id=2253610.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Loss of nutrients from cropped soil represents an economic loss to producers and a threat to environmental quality. In this study, we monitored water, nutrient, and sediment in tile drainage from agricultural fields treated with manure in western Minnesota. Phosphorus results will be presented here. In this multi-year study, we measured flow-weighted soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations in tile drainage year-round. We compared phosphorus transport in fields 3 years before and after conversion from open tile inlets (in which ponded water is drained directly into the subsurface tile system) to buried inlets (in which ponded water must infiltrate through a gravel bed before reaching the subsurface tile system). Median annual SRP concentrations were reduced by 35% using gravel inlets (0.064 vs 0.099 mg/L). In 5 of the 6 years, SRP load in tile drainage was greater during snowmelt than during non-snowmelt periods. Median SRP concentrations during snowmelt were 6 to 10 times greater than for the non-snowmelt period. These results demonstrate that in these agricultural landscapes, replacing open inlets with buried inlets can reduce phosphorus export by tile drainage.