Residual effect of long-term applications of farmyard manure to silage maize

Abstract

Sluijsmans and Kolenbrander developed a simple model to describe the availability of animal manure, assuming a readily available, an easily decomposable and a slowly decomposable N fraction. We tested this model on data from an experiment in which farmyard manure had been applied for eleven successive years to silage maize [Zea mays L.] grown on a light sandy soil. The residual effects of this FYM were then measured by growing Italian ryegrass [Lolium multiflorum Lamk.] in the 12th year. The measured uptake of N by the grass of the FYM residues was then compared with the computed values. The measured amounts of N taken up agreed fairly well with the calculated amounts for applications of 50 and 100 t FYM per ha per year.

If the rates of manure application are adjusted to crop requirement, the model shows that the potential, long-term release of N from the residual N fraction of FYM will not exceed 20 kg N per ha. For cattle slurry with a smaller residual fraction, the release will be at most 10% of the total annual N application.