Management of Soil Nitrogen through the use of Organic Amendments for Cereal Crop Production ...

240 Pages·2015·3.72 MB·English

Management of Soil Nitrogen through the use of Organic Amendments for Cereal Crop
Production

By
Alexander Lake Woodley

A Thesis
Presented to
The University of Guelph

In partial fulfilment of requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in
Land Resource Science

Guelph Ontario, Canada

©Alexander L. Woodley, March, 2015
ABSTRACT

MANAGEMENT OF SOIL NITROGEN THROUGH THE USE OF
ORGANIC AMENDMENTS FOR CEREAL CROP PRODUCTION

Alexander Woodley Advisor:
University of Guelph, 2015 Dr. Paul Voroney

The diversity of organic amendments currently being approved for use in certified organic farming
has outpaced the fundamental research on their nutrient properties, including nitrogen (N)
availability, crop N-use efficiency and effects on soil N dynamics. This understanding is essential for
implementing best management practices (BMP) that address the economic and environmental risks
associated with their usage in organic cereal production. The goal of the research was to develop
scientifically-based BMPs that maximize the N use efficiency of organic amendments in organic
cereal crop production. Field trials examined grain yield response to amendment applications, and
their impact on residual soil N. A laboratory incubation study with a range of organic amendments
was conducted to measure organic carbon (C) and N mineralization rates to guide prediction of N
release for field studies. Mineralization of composted amendments was lower than that of fresh
manures. Field trials showed positive grain yield response to applications of turkey litter compost
(TLC) for cereal crops including oat (Avena sativa), spelt (Triticum spelta), corn (Zea mays), wheat
(Tritictum aestivum) and rye (Secale cereale). Crop yield response to TLC was lower than that fresh
poultry litter (PL) due to its lower N availability. There was no evidence of a carryover effect in the
second year after application of either TLC or PL. Incorporation of red clover which had been
underseeded to winter wheat increased a following corn crop yield by 16% over a control treatment
without red clover. In two field trials comparing TLC applied in the fall vs spring on spelt and rye
crops showed higher grain N concentrations in the spring applied treatments. It is recommended
that TLC be applied in spring as the potential for overwinter N losses through leaching is an
unnecessary risk. Modest applications of TLC should be incorporated into an integrated N
management system coupled with crop rotations to enhance N availability for high N requirement
crops. The use of green manures is recommended as a third component in organic farming
management to ensure adequate N supplies.
PREFACE

The dissertation research is presented in manuscript form. Each chapter represents a manuscript
that is to be published in a relevant peer reviewed journal. To avoid excessive repetition between
chapters some methods sections may refer to methodologies previously described in detail in an
earlier chapter.

iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge my advisory committee for being instrumental in the
completion of my dissertation. The lifetime of soil science experience that Dr. Paul Voroney
possess, coupled with his natural curiosity and passion for this field of science has made this
doctoral process immensely satisfying and I am grateful to have worked with such a talented
individual. I would like to thank Dr. John Lauzon on his wealth of knowledge for all things field
related. Thank you to Dr. Bill Deen for your insight into the cropping systems and the plant growth
aspect of this research project. I thank the examination committee; Dr. Paul Voroney, Dr. John
Lauzon, Dr. Laura Van Eerd and Dr. Jeff Schoenau for taking the time to evaluate this dissertation.
The knowledge that each individual brings to the evaluation will allow for a comprehensive review
of the work, which will only benefit this research. Throughout my graduate studies I have had the
pleasure to interact with many graduate students; Hongjie Zhan, Yuki Audette, Reanaldo Beflon and
Robyn Coleman were essential collaborators in day to day lab function and equipment problem
solving. My summer students Erin Maloney, Chantal Gagnon, Laura Söderman and William
Woodley, thank you for your enthusiasm for the research, even during the days of scorching heat
and endless soil sampling.

I would like to thank the sponsors and the producers for their support: Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food (OMAF), Organic Meadows, Ted Shelegy, Paul Campbell, Gerald Peochman,
Francis Hartman, Jeremy Schmidt, Cliff VanderPloeg, Wayne Weber and Melvin Braubacher.

Lastly I would like sincerely thank my friends and family for their unending support and
patience throughout this adventure.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE .............................................................................................................................. IV
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................ V
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... VI
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... X
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... XV
LIST OF EQUATIONS .................................................................................................... XVIII
ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................................. XIX
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1 ORGANIC CROP PRODUCTION FARMING IN CANADA AND ONTARIO......... 1
1.2 NITROGEN DYNAMICS IN THE SOIL ...................................................................... 3
1.2.1 Nitrogen Mineralization and Immobilization .............................................................. 4
1.2.2 Nitrification ............................................................................................................... 7
1.2.3 Denitrification ............................................................................................................ 9
1.2.4 Ammonia Volatilization ........................................................................................... 10
1.3 PERMITTED SOIL AMENDMENTS .......................................................................... 10
1.4 N MANAGEMENT APPROACHES FOR ORGANIC FARMING ............................ 11
1.4.1 Crop Rotations and Green Manures ......................................................................... 12
1.4.2 Organic Amendments .............................................................................................. 14
1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................... 15
2 CARBON AND NITROGEN MINERALIZATION, NITROUS OXIDE AND
METHANE EMISSIONS FROM VARIOUS ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ADDED TO A
SANDY LOAM SOIL .............................................................................................................. 17
2.1 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 17
2.2 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 18
2.3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ..................................................................................... 21
2.3.1 Soil and Amendments .............................................................................................. 21
2.3.2 Carbon Mineralization, Nitrous Oxide and Methane Emissions ............................... 24
2.3.3 Nitrogen Mineralization ........................................................................................... 25
2.3.4 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................... 26
2.4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................................... 28
2.4.1 Carbon Mineralization .............................................................................................. 28
2.4.2 Nitrous Oxide Production ........................................................................................ 33
2.4.3 Methane Emissions .................................................................................................. 37
vi
2.4.4 Greenhouse Gas Emissions CO equivalent ............................................................. 38
2
2.4.5 Soil Nitrogen Dynamics ........................................................................................... 40
2.5 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 49
3 CEREAL CROP YIELD, GRAIN QUALITY AND SOIL NITROGEN RESPONSE
TO POULTRY AND DAIRY COMPOST AMENDMENTS ............................................... 52
3.1 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 52
3.2 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 53
3.3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ..................................................................................... 57
3.3.1 Site Description and Experimental Design ............................................................... 57
3.3.2 Compost properties ................................................................................................. 60
3.3.3 Soil measurements.................................................................................................... 62
3.3.4 Crop Yield and Grain N determination .................................................................... 62
3.3.5 Economic Analysis and Nitrogen Use Efficiency ..................................................... 63
3.3.6 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................... 65
3.4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................................... 66
3.4.1 Meteorological Data ................................................................................................. 66
3.4.2 Crop Grain Yield Response ...................................................................................... 68
3.4.3 Grain N Concentration (GNC) and Grain N uptake (GNU) .................................... 73
3.4.4 Economic Analysis and Nitrogen Use Efficiency ..................................................... 77
3.4.5 Residual Soil Nitrogen (RSN) ................................................................................... 84
3.5 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 93
4 A COMPARISON OF FRESH AND COMPOSTED POULTRY AMENDMENTS ON
YIELD RESPONSE, GRAIN QUALITY AND SOIL RESIDUAL NITROGEN ON A
WINTER WHEAT AND CORN CROP ................................................................................ 95
4.1 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 95
4.2 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 96
4.3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ..................................................................................... 98
4.3.1 Site Description and Experimental Design ............................................................... 98
4.3.2 Amendment Properties .......................................................................................... 101
4.3.3 Soil measurements.................................................................................................. 102
4.3.4 Crop Yield and Grain N determination .................................................................. 103
4.3.5 Economic Analysis and Nitrogen Use Efficiency ................................................... 104
4.3.6 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................. 105
4.4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 107
vii
4.4.1 Crop Grain Yield Response .................................................................................... 107
4.4.2 Grain N Concentration (GNC) and Grain N uptake (GNU) .................................. 111
4.4.3 Residual Soil Nitrogen (RSN) ................................................................................. 115
4.4.4 Economic Analysis and Nitrogen Use Efficiency ................................................... 121
4.5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 126
5 RESIDUAL NITROGEN CARRYOVER EFFECTS OF ORGANIC AMENDMENTS
ON SUBSEQUENT SEASON CEREAL PRODUCTION ................................................ 128
5.1 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 128
5.2 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 129
5.3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ................................................................................... 132
5.3.1 Site Description and Experimental Design ............................................................. 132
5.3.2 Soil and Amendment Properties ............................................................................. 134
5.3.3 Crop Yield and Grain N determination .................................................................. 135
5.3.4 Economic Analysis and Nitrogen Use Efficiency ................................................... 136
5.3.5 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................. 136
5.4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 137
5.4.1 Red Clover Cover Crop .......................................................................................... 137
5.4.2 Crop Grain Yield Response .................................................................................... 137
5.4.3 Grain N Concentration (GNC) and Grain N uptake (GNU) .................................. 140
5.4.4 Soil Nitrogen .......................................................................................................... 141
5.4.5 Economic Analysis and Nitrogen Use Efficiency ................................................... 145
5.5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 146
6 EFFECT OF FALL VERSUS SPRING APPLICATION OF COMPOSTED
POULTRY LITTER ON WINTER SPELT AND RYE CROP YIELDS, GRAIN
QUALITY AND RESIDUAL SOIL NITROGEN............................................................... 148
6.1 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 148
6.2 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 149
6.3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ................................................................................... 152
6.3.1 Site Description and Experimental Design ............................................................. 152
6.3.2 Amendment Properties .......................................................................................... 154
6.3.3 Soil and Crop Collections ....................................................................................... 154
6.3.4 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................. 155
6.4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 155
6.4.1 Meteorological Data ............................................................................................... 155
viii
6.4.2 Crop Grain yield response ...................................................................................... 156
6.4.3 Grain N Concentration (GNC) and Grain N uptake (GNU) .................................. 159
6.4.4 Soil Nitrogen .......................................................................................................... 161
6.5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 165
7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ....... 166
7.1 CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................... 166
7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH .............................................. 169
8 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................. 172
9 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 190
APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................. 190
APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................. 192
APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................. 197
APPENDIX D ............................................................................................................................ 202
APPENDIX E ............................................................................................................................ 216

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1. Amendment nutrient characteristics - TLC (turkey litter compost), TL (turkey litter), PA
(pelletized amendment), PL (poultry pitter), CD (composted dairy manure), LD (liquid dairy
Manure), D1-3 (digestates). ............................................................................................................................ 24

Table 2.2. Organic C mineralization and cumulative mineralization rates as influences by organic
amendment application over a 98-d incubation, PL - poultry litter, CD – composted dairy, TL –
turkey litter, PA – pelletized amendment, TLC – turkey litter compost, D1-3 – anaerobic digestates,
LD – liquid dairy manure. ............................................................................................................................... 30

Table 2.3. Amendment organic C decomposition parameter estimates of a two pooled kinetic decay
model (Y = a*exp(-k1*t) + b*exp(-k2*t) ), parameters a and b units (%), k1 and k2 decay rate constants
(days-1). ............................................................................................................................................................... 33

Table 2.4. N O emission rates measured on day 2, day 4, day 7 and day 14 and cumulative N O
2 2
emissions in response to organic amendment application, letters denote significant LSD comparison
between amendments. ..................................................................................................................................... 35

Table 2.5. Amendment organic N decomposition parameter estimates of a two pooled kinetic decay
model (Y = a*exp(-k1*t) + b*exp(-k2*t) ). Parameters a and b units (%), k1 and k2 constants (week-1). .... 49

Table 3.1. Description of site location and soil physical and chemical properties prior to amendment
application. ........................................................................................................................................................ 58

Table 3.2. Site management and sample collection. .................................................................................... 59

Table 3.3. Rates and total N applied of TLC and CD. ............................................................................... 59

Table 3.4. Properties of the organic amendments applied as an N source. ............................................ 61

Table 3.5. 30 year average, mean, maximum, minimum air temperature (°C) and 30 year monthly
average, monthly daily maximum and percentage of monthly total due to maximum precipitation
event (mm). ....................................................................................................................................................... 67

Table 3.6. Least squared means of grain yield (GY), grain N concentration (GNC), grain N uptake
(GNU), agronomic efficiency (AE) and grain nitrogen accumulation efficiency (GNAE), letters
denote significant differences between means at each site, n.s. in the SE column indicates there was
no significant interaction with rate and the variable. .................................................................................. 70

Table 3.7. Sample crop rotations using a) turkey litter compost (TLC) as the primary N source for
crop N requirements b) poultry litter (PL) as the primary N source C) estimated most economic rate
of amendment (MERA) of TLC. ................................................................................................................ 81

Table 3.8. Least squared means of NO -N, NH -N and RSN (0-30cm), letters denote LSD with a
3 4
Tukeys t-test significance, * denotes significance of the effect of rate. ................................................... 86

x