Compost Benefits to the Soil

Soil Benefits from Manure/Compost Applications

Chris Augustin NDSU Extension Soil Health Specialist

701-857-7682 [email protected]

What is Soil?

Organic

Matter

5%

Water

25%

Air

25%

Minerals

45%

Manure Enhances Soil Properties • Increases Soil Organic Matter

• Decrease Bulk Density

• Increase Water Holding Capacity

• Increases Water Infiltration

• Increases Soil Aggregation

• Fertility

• Cation Exchange Capacity

• Sandy Soils Tend to Show Greater Changes With Manure Applications Than Clayey Soils (Khaleel et al., 1981)

Increasing SOM with Compost

• 6 inches of topsoil weigh ~ 2,000,000lbs

• 1% weighs 20,000lbs

• Manure/Compost has ~ 10% O.M.

• To add 1% O.M. add 100 t/ac

– Compost applications range 10-20 t/ac

– Manure applications range 25-30t/ac

4 tons/acre

16 tons/acre

42 tons/acre

-------------lbs/ton------------- Solid Manure Type Total N P2O5 K2O NH4 NO3

Beef (142 Samples) 16.0 7.1 14.5 0.8 0.6

Beef Range 6.7 - 64.8

1 - 21.6

0.9 - 63.2

Composted Beef (10 Samples)

16.6 13.0 14.3

Composted Beef Range 8- 36 5 -

20.2

9 - 19.8

Data Collected Courtesy of NDSU Soil Testing Lab

Properties of Clopyralid and Picloram

• Herbicides pass through cow digestive system

• Not deactivated in composting process

• Test compost from manure where road ditch hay was fed or grass clippings from sprayed lawns

Increases Organic Matter

Study was conducted on a loam soil.

Adopted from Rochette, P., and E.G. Gregorich. 1998

∆ Soluble Organic

Carbon ∆ Microbial

Biomass Carbon

Treatment ppm

Control - -

Fertilizer 4.2 -88.4

Stockpiled 91.78 499.7

Rotted 124.6 563.5

Increases Organic Matter Manure Application (Tons/Ac)

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

Organic Matter %

0-0-0-0 0.8a 1.0a 1.0a 1.1a 1.1a 1.2a 1.0a 0.9a 1.0a 1.0a

80-0-0-0 0.9a 1.9bc 1.8b 1.6ab 2.0b 1.9b 1.4b 1.3b 1.3b 1.3b

20-20-20-20 0.8a 1.3a 1.8b 1.9bc 2.0b 2.2bc 1.6bc 1.4b 1.4bc 1.5b

40-40-40-40 0.9a 1.4ab 1.7b 2.3cd 2.2bc 2.6cd 1.8cd 1.5b 1.4bc 1.5b

160-0-0-0 0.9a 2.2c 2.3c 2.0cd 2.1b 2.0b 1.8cd 1.6b 1.5bc 1.4b

80-160-0-0 0.9a 2.0c 3.0d 3.0e 2.5c 2.8d 2.1de 2.0c 1.6c 1.7c

80-80-80-0 0.9a 1.8bc 2.5c 2.8de 2.9d 2.7cd 2.2e 2.1c 1.9d 1.8c

• Study was conducted on a clayey over a loam soil.

• Adopted from Meek, B., L. Graham, and T. Donovan, 1981

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4%

So

il O

rgan

ic M

atte

r

Year of Testing

0-0-0-0 Manure Treatment



Soil Organic Matter Increased 0.2%

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

% S

oil

Org

anic

Mat

ter

Year of Testing





0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

% S

oil

Org

anic

Mat

ter

Year of Testing





0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

% S

oil

Org

anic

Mat

ter

Year of Testing





0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

% S

oil

Org

anic

Mat

ter

Year of Testing





0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

% S

oil

Org

anic

Mat

ter

Year of Testing





0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

% S

oil

Org

anic

Mat

ter

Year of Testing





Select Soil Properties From Manure Applications

Study was conducted on a clay loam. Unger and Stewart, 1974

Feedlot Manure Application Rate (t/ac) Soil Property 0 10 30 60 119

Bulk Density (g/cm3) 1.37a 1.33a 1.28ab 1.20bc 1.12c Organic Matter (%) 1.41c 2.14b 2.59a 2.79a 2.58a

Water Stable Aggregates (%) 0.25 mm 30.5ab 32.0ab 32.4a 29.5b 26.0c 1.0 mm 11.8fgh 12.5fgh 11.0gh 11.8fgh 14.1ef 2.0 mm 10.8gh 10.8gh 9.9h 11.3fgh 13.5efg 4.0 mm 13.5efg 12.1fgh 12.7fgh 15.7e 20.9d Conductance (dS/cm) 0.61d 1.21c 2.03b 2.06b 3.14a †F-test indicated significant differences at 10% level of confidence.

Select Soil Properties From Manure Applications

Unger and Stewart, 1974

Feedlot Manure Application Rate (t/ac)

Soil Property 0 10 30 60 119

Bulk Density (g/cm3) 1.37a 1.33a 1.28ab 1.20bc 1.12c

- Soil Bulk Density (g/cm3)-

≤0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5≥

----Peat Soils---- -Uncultivated

Soils- --------------Cultivated Soils-------------- -Concrete-

--Cultivated Clay and Silt Loams-- ----------Hardpans----------

-Cultivated Sandy Loams and Sands-

--------Root Growth Restricted--------

--Clays Silt

Loams Sand

Loams Sands--

Adapted from Brady and Weil, 2002

Study was conducted on a clay loam. Unger and Stewart, 1974

Manure Effects of Water Infiltration

Manure Rate Ponded Infiltration Rate

t/ac ---in/hr---

0 4.1a

13.4 4.7a

27.7 4.0a

40.1 13.6b

Study was conducted on a clay loam. Miller et al., 2002

Cornell Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Research Series R03-01

Spring Wheat Response of Fall vs.

Spring Applied Manure

• 2008 and 2009

• Conventional Till

• Applied 150lbs of N from manure

(50% mineralization) and urea

• Spring and Fall manure application

30 c

48 a 45 ab

40 b

0

10

20

30

40

50

60B

ush

els

Wheat Yield Over 2 Years

p=0.05

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Co

st o

f Fe

rtili

zer

pe

r p

ou

nd

($

)

Fertilizer Source

Cost Analysis of Various Fertilizers

Co

st o

f Fe

rtili

zer

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Fall Manure Urea Spring Manure Check

Ne

t fr

om

Fe

rtili

zer

($)

Fertilizer Source

Net Return from Fertilizer Application

$-24.45

$-41.75

$-92.25

$8.35/bu wheat

Cropping Systems Trial

• The study was initiated in 1987 at the Carrington Research Extension Center (CREC)

• Consists of three, 4 year rotations conducted during 1987-90, 1991-94, etc…

• Within each crop, subplots include:

- 4 N fertility treatments

- 3 tillage systems-NT, MT, and CT

N Fertility treatments*

1. no N applied

2. 40 lb/A actual N

3. 80 lb/A actual N

4. Composted manure = 160 lb/A applied

at start of each 4-year cycle (annual

average of about 30-40 lb N/acre)

*N fertilizer - surface applied, preplant ammonium nitrate (34-0-0)

- not applied to fallow or legumes

CST Results

• No significant differences in yields of

crops regardless of tillage

• Slight yield differences between nutrient

sources

– Compost out-yielded comparable

commercial N fertilization in most cases

CREC Manure/Compost Salinity Demo

Measure Salinity

EC Range: 3-6 dS/cm

Treatment Application Rate

(tons/acre)

Compost 13-Light

24-Medium 45-Heavy

Manure 11-Light

23-Medium 45-Heavy

• Fall applied treatments to allow maximum mineralization.

• Incorporated with tandem disk.

Fertility

45 Bushel wheat on this field requires: 52.5lbs N/ac 8lbs P2O5/ac 0lbs K2O/ac

Application Plant Available Nutrient

Nutrient Source tons/acre N P2O5 K2O

Compost

11-Light 14 47 65

24-Medium 30 102 141

45-Heavy 57 192 265

Manure

11-Light 65 74 109

23-Medium 140 154 228

45-Heavy 266 302 446

Hyothesis:

Hypothesis:

The addition of organic matter from composted feedlot manure and raw feedlot manure will improve soil water physical conditions allowing establishment of spring wheat.

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

13 Compost 11 Manure 23 Manure 24 Compost 45 Compost 45 Manure

Wh

eat

Pla

nts

pe

r A

cre

Application (tons/acre)

Spring Wheat Plants per Acre on Manure Treated Saline Soil

Check did not germinate.

Wheat planting accounted for 95% germination for 1,981,900 seeds/acre.

Summary • Compost and manure are good fertilizers for soil and crops

• Manure/compost applications tend to have a bigger effect on coarser textured soils-look out for nutrient loading

• Compost and manure enhances many soil physical and chemical properties

• Manure is a good and cost effective fertilizer

• Manure seems to do better on warm season crops vs. cool season crops

• Although saline trials were not replicated, it indicates that applications of manure and compost may offset saline soil conditions, allowing spring wheat establishment.

Works Cited • Brady N.C., and R.R. Weil. 2002. The nature and properties of soils 13th ed.

pg. 139. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ. • Khaleel, R., K.R. Reddy, and M.R. Overcash. 1981. Changes in soil physical

properties due to organic waste additions: A review. J. Environ. Qual. 10:133-141.

• Meek, B., L. Graham, and T. Donovan. 1981. Long-term effects of manure on soil nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, organic matter, and water infiltration rate. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46:1014-1019.

• Miller, J.J., N.J. Sweetland, and C. Chang. 2002. Hydrological properties of a clay loam soil after long-term cattle manure application. J. Environ. Qual. 31:989-996.

• Rochette, P., and E.G. Gregorich. 1998. Dynamics of soil microbial biomass C, soluble organic C and CO2 evolution after three years of manure application. Can. J. Soil Sci. 78:283-290.

• Unger, P.W., and B.A. Stewart. 1974. Feedlot waste effects on soil conditions and water evaporation. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc., 38: 954-957.

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Compost Benefits to the Soil