Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T04:02:26.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The response of pastures in Northern Ireland to N, P and K fertilizers and to animal slurries: I. Effects on dry-matter yield

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

S. N. Adams
S. N. Adams
Affiliation:
Agricultural and Food Chemistry Department, Queen's University of Belfast, Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Sixteen factorial experiments made from 1969 to 1971 on Northern Ireland pastures measured effects on yield of 0, 180 or 360 kg of N, 0, 30 or 60 kg of P and 0, 150 or 300 kg of K/ha/year both with and without 138,000 1 of slurry/ha.

Without slurry, pasture yield was almost always substantially increased by nitrogen, slightly by potassium and hardly at all by phosphorus. There was a slight positive interaction between nitrogen and potassium, but no other interactions. Response to nitrogen was not linear and therefore was lower than has been obtained in many British trials.

Slurry sharply reduced response to nitrogen and virtually eliminated response to phosphorus and potassium. The NH4-nitrogen content of slurry gave an adequate measure of its effect on pasture yield. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents of the most concentrated slurries were 15, 29 and 36 times respectively those of the most dilute batches. Hence considerable imprecision is brought into a fertilizer programme when slurry is applied.

As manuring on individual fields can never be precise, the fertilizer phosphorus and potassium needed for grassland is best assessed by considering the farm as a whole. A nutrient balance can show if the farming system is gaining or losing phosphorus and potassium. The amounts of fertilizer phosphorus and potassium needed are those which cover any deficits on the farm as a whole.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , December 1973 , pp. 411 - 417
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Boyd, D. A. & Lessells, W. J. (1954). Influence of fertility levels on grassland output. J. Brit. Grassld Soc. 9, 7–15.Google Scholar
Castle, M. E. & Reid, D. (1963). Nitrogen and herbage production. J. Brit. Grassld Soc. 18, 1–6.Google Scholar
Gately, T. G., Ryan, M. & Doyle, L. (1972). Effect of nitrogen on the yield, total-N and nitrate-N content of herbage over the growing season. Ir. J. Agric. Res. 11, 63–75.Google Scholar
Herriott, J. B. D., Wells, D. A. & Crooks, P. (1965). Guile as a grassland fertilizer. J. Brit. Grassld Soc. 20, 129–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linehan, P. A. & Lowe, J. (1960). Grassland output and vegetational changes on a heavy County Fermanagh soil, as influenced by type of seeds sown and by rate of nitrogenous manuring. Res. Exp. Rec. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ir. x, pp. 55–84.Google Scholar
McAllister, J. S. V. (1963). Investigations into the storage and use of slurry. I. The nutrient content of slurry produced in Northern Ireland, 1962. Res. Exp. Rec. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ir. XII, pp. 123–33.Google Scholar
McAllister, J. S. V. (1966). A study of the responses to alternative sources of nitrogen in Northern Ireland. I. Effects of time of application on yield and mineral composition of Italian ryegrass. Rec. Agric. Res. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ir. 15, 67–88.Google Scholar
McAllister, J. S. V. (1971). Nutrient balance on livestock farms. 1st Colloquium of the Potassium Institute Ltd, pp. 113–21.Google Scholar
McAllister, J. S. V. & McConaghy, S. (1960). The application of heavy dressings of nitrogen to pasture. Res. Exp. Rec. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ir. x, pp. 87–99.Google Scholar
McAllister, J. S. V. & McConaghy, S. (1963). The effects of nitrogen on the growth of barley in Northern Ireland. I. Effects of variation in the level of applied nitrogen on the yield and on the nitrogen content of the grain. Res. Exp. Rec. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ir. XII, pp. 113–22.Google Scholar
Matthews, B. C. & Beckett, P. H. T. (1962). A new procedure for studying the release and fixation of potassium ions in soil. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 58, 59–64.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Netherlands (1967). The nutrient balance for clay, peal and sandy soils. Leaflet no. 131.Google Scholar
Reith, J. W. S., Inkson, R. H. E., Steward, A. M., Holmes, W., McCluskey, D. S., Reid, D., Heddle, R. G., Clouston, D. & Copeman, G. J. F. (1961). The effects of fertilizers on herbage production. I. The effects of nitrogen, phosphate, potash on yield. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 56, 17–29.Google Scholar
Stewart, T. A. (1968). The effect of age, dilution and rate of application of cow and pig slurry on grass production. Rec. Agric. Res. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ir. 17, 67–90.Google Scholar