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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Soil Dynamics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #346179
Title: Using soil phosphorus measurements to assess the effectiveness of subsurface-band application of broiler litter in reducing phosphorus leaching

Author
item LAMBA, JASMEET - Auburn University
item SRIVASTAVA, PUNEET - Auburn University
item MITRA, SUBHASIS - Auburn University
item Way, Thomas - Tom

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2017
Publication Date: 1/14/2018
Citation: Lamba, J., Srivastava, P., Mitra, S., Way, T.R. 2018. Using soil phosphorus measurements to assess the effectiveness of subsurface-band application of broiler litter in reducing phosphorus leaching. Transactions of the ASABE. 61(1):133-138.

Interpretive Summary: Losses of phosphorus (P) in runoff water from agricultural fields may contribute to reduced water quality in streams, rivers, lakes, and other water bodies. Poultry litter is a mixture of poultry manure and a bedding material, such as sawdust. The conventional method for land application of poultry litter is surface broadcast application, which deposits the litter on the soil surface. A prototype field implement for shallow subsurface band application of litter has been developed at the USDA-ARS National Soil Dynamics Lab in Auburn, AL. This implement applies the litter in bands beneath the soil surface, with each band being covered by about a 1 in. depth of soil. Past field experiments with the implement have shown that this subsurface band application substantially reduces nitrogen and P nutrients in runoff water and in leachate water samples collected 18 in. beneath the soil surface, when rainfall of a relatively high intensity occurs on the soil surface. Leachate water samples are typically collected using lysimeters which are devices installed at some depth beneath the soil surface and are in contact with the soil above them. Broiler litter is litter from the production of broiler chickens. In this study, we tested a simple and inexpensive method of assessing the effectiveness of subsurface-band application of broiler litter using ortho-P (PO4-P) measurements in soils. This method of measuring PO4-P concentration in soils shows that subsurface-band application of broiler litter helped to reduce P leaching, whereas surface broadcast application of broiler litter was not effective in reducing P leaching. The results of this study show that the proposed method of using soil PO4-P measurements can be successfully used to assess the effectiveness of subsurface-band application of broiler litter.

Technical Abstract: Excessive delivery of phosphorus (P) from agricultural landscapes to surface waters results in water quality impairment. The method of application of broiler litter to agricultural fields significantly affects P loss to surface waters via surface or subsurface flow pathways from agricultural landscapes. Subsurface-band application of broiler litter can help to reduce P loss in surface and subsurface flows. Typically, leachate samples are collected using lysimeters or subsurface flows are sampled to assess the effectiveness of subsurface-band application of broiler litter to limit P mobilization. In this study, we tested a simple and inexpensive method of assessing effectiveness of subsurface-band application of broiler litter using ortho-P (PO4-P) measurements in soils. This method of measuring PO4-P concentration in soils shows that subsurface-band application of broiler litter helped to reduce P leaching, whereas surface application of broiler litter was not effective in reducing P leaching. The results of this study show that the proposed method of using soil PO4-P measurements can be successfully used to assess the effectiveness of subsurface-band application of broiler litter.