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ARS Home » Plains Area » Brookings, South Dakota » Integrated Cropping Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #410525
Research Project: Combined Management Tactics for Resilient and Sustainable Crop Production

Location: Integrated Cropping Systems Research

Title: Amending eroded soil with solids from digested dairy manure to improve short-term productivity: comparisons to replacing translocated topsoil

Author
item Sutradhar, Apurba
item Schneider, Sharon

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/2023
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In this work, we evaluated crop response and changes in soil properties after digested dairy manure solids were applied to eroded soil. These studies were a continuation of experiments that evaluated the effects of replacing translocated topsoil (soil-landscape rehabilitation). In Phase 1 of the study (reported previously), 15-20 cm of topsoil was moved from areas of net soil deposition by erosion to areas of net soil loss by erosion (convex upper slope positions). Adjacent plots remained in their eroded condition. After six years, at the conclusion of Phase 1, plots were split and manure solids were applied and incorporated to half of each rehabilitated (soil added) and control (no-soil added) plot at a rate of 40 Mg ha-1. Manure was dairy manure treated by anaerobic digestion for energy production. The digestate was passed through a solids separator, then a dewatering system. The plot design included triplicate blocks, each with four treatments (a) control, (b) soil added, (c) manure solids added, and (d) both soil and manure solids added. The site was cropped to a corn-soybean rotation and crop and soil parameters were monitored for five years. All treatments increased corn and soybean biomass and grain yields relative to the control with no significant differences between the three amendments. Crop yields were increased an average of 18-30% by adding soil and/or manure, with the largest response observed in the first year after manure addition. Addition of soil increased soil OC concentration, but manure did not, likely because the anaerobic digestion process removes biodegradable organic material. There were strong relationships between soil organic carbon, inorganic carbon, soil nutrients, and crop response. These results indicated that application of digested dairy manure solids can improve crop yields in severely eroded landscapes at a magnitude equivalent to soil-landscape rehabilitation in the short term.