Every year, small demonstration plots are put out at Farm Science Review to give visitors a look at different management practices they may consider using. This year we added manure into the mix. The intent was to sidedress corn plots with swine manure.
The applicator had two 115 gallon tanks and incorporated the manure as it was applied.
Calibration needed to be done before spreading any manure so we could make sure the entire plot received the same amount of nutrients. Water was used for calibrating so nutrients were not wasted or over-applied.
We had three plots of four corn rows to work with. In the first we applied straight swine manure and the second we mixed in 5 gallons of 28% for a Nitrogen boost. Manure differs from farm to farm but a lot of times more Nitrogen is need compared to other nutrients like Phosphorus so by adding pure Nitrogen the application rate can be adjusted to meet crop nutrient needs and avoid over-application of some nutrients and under-application of others.
The third plot was manure mixed with a cover crop seed. This is very experimental but the thought behind it was that it may provide more forage for those cutting silage. The corn could also be harvested if the cover crop did not grow very fast and then the cover crops would grow over the winter holding nutrients in the field until it dies and releases nutrients for next year’s crop during decomposition.
You can see the red-orange cover crop seeds that were mixed with the manure
By incorporating the manure into the soil, the loss of Nitrogen to volatilization and the loss of other nutrients to runoff are greatly reduced. The odor from manure is also reduced since it is less exposed to the air. Another advantage of incorporation is to keep manure from running through cracks or worm holes in the soil and reaching the tile lines before the plants have an opportunity to absorb nutrients.
Sidedressing has an advantage over applying to bare soil because the growing crops are able to take advantage of nutrients immediately and less are lost to the elements. Therefore, sidedressing with incorporation on a growing crop should maximize nutrient uptake and crop yields.
Attendees of the 2010 Farm Science Review can visit the plots and see what effect the different treatments had on the corn crop. More information on nutrients applied and application details will be available as well.
Tags: cover crop, farm, fertilizer, manure, plots, research
