Document 6557460

A4 - Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 11, 2014
Index
Five Sections
SECTION A
Scientists Weigh In on GMO Debate..........A1
Farmers Gear Up for Grain Harvest.........A1
KILE Clinic a Hair-Raising Experience....A1
Farmers Check Out Interseeder Results...A1
West Lampeter Fair Livestock Sale............A2
Livestock & the Environment.....................A4
Southdown, Border Leicester Top Sheep...A5
Low Grain Prices Pose Challenges.............A7
Editorial........................................................A8
Commentary.......................................... A8, A9
Bible Speaks..................................................A8
Now Is the Time............................................A8
National Ag News.......................................A10
Rodale’s ‘Coach’ Walks Report to DC.....A11
Dairy Week in Review................................A12
Downer Cows: Should They Stay or Go?...A12
Bedford FFA Tops Stockman’s Contest...A13
Study Calculates Beef Sustainability........A13
Berkshire, Chester White Top Swine.......A15
Farm Calendar......................... A16, A17, A18
Ag News Briefs...........................................A19
Beef Quality Care Matters........................A20
Tunis, Horned Dorset Reign Supreme.....A21
Midwest Cattle Sweep KILE Supreme....A24
Ag Science News.........................................A26
Markets.......................................................A27
Weather.......................................................A43
SECTION B
Home on the Range......................................B2
Dairies Prosper in Asian Interludes...........B3
Shepherds Strut Their Wool Stuff..............B4
On Being a Farm Wife.................................B5
You Ask, You Answer...................................B6
Family Living Focus.....................................B7
Cook’s Question...........................................B8
Rural Ramblings..........................................B9
Kid’s Korner...............................................B10
Mailbox Markets........................................B11
Public Auction Register.............................B19
Antiques Center.........................................B25
Antiques Detective.....................................B26
SECTION C
Classifieds.....................................................C1
SECTION D
Classifieds.....................................................D1
Ohio Town Capitol of Pumpkin Pies..........D2
SECTION E
Corn Talk & Foraging Around...................E1
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Research Affirms Complexities of Nitrogen Losses
Livestock & the Environment
Virginia Ishler
There are many complexities
involved in trying to balance
manure and cropping management strategies to minimize nutrient pollution and gas emissions.
Nitrogen is quite volatile in
the agricultural system, so it is
evident there needs to be longterm solutions that make sense
both at the local level and globally.
To achieve this, there has to
be a better understanding of
the fate of all forms of nitrogen
emitted from agriculture.
The Northeast Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education, or SARE, project that
I have written about several
times is evaluating this specific
quandary.
Emily Duncan, a graduate student in soil science and
biogeochemistry is evaluating shallow disk injection and
broadcast manure application
at the field scale over a complex crop rotation.
She is attempting to quantify
the fate of nitrogen in crops,
soil, water and air. Her main
goal is to evaluate the tradeoffs
in environmental impacts and
nitrogen efficiency associated
with these dairy manure ap-
plications in a no-till cropping
system.
Although her project is not
yet complete, it is important to
note how much is involved in
collecting data to answer some
of these difficult questions.
In past studies, the measurements taken have been focused
on much smaller scales and
taken place during shorter time
periods.
Duncan’s approach is to research trends over annual and
cropping rotation periods that
most closely reflect on farm
practices. She is monitoring the
various forms of nitrogen, not
only in runoff water but also as
gaseous emissions, soil storage
and plant biomass to account
for crop uptake.
At the Penn State agronomy
farm, she has 12 plots that are
hydrologically isolated so that
surface and subsurface waters
are captured for each plot.
This enables a water budget
to be established for the site
using weather station data in
conjunction with surface and
subsurface runoff data.
There are collection houses
near the plots where water can
be sampled when it rains or
storms. They serve not only as
a central point for water sampling but also house data loggers that record the volumes
of runoff that occur with each
precipitation event.
The most common manure
management strategy for no-till
farming is broadcast manure
application because it can be
spread quickly in the field without disturbing the soil.
Yes: 92%
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However, this causes envi- lyzed to determine how much
ronmental losses through am- nitrogen they consumed.
All the sampling for this
monia volatilization and provides the potential for manure project has occurred over sevto wash off to the closest water eral years — 2011-2013 — and
body if it rains soon after ap- represents differing weather
events, i.e. drought versus wet
plication.
In contrast, shallow-disk in- conditions.
The results are expected to
jection is a modified method
of application where coulters vary depending on the weather
cut a slit into the ground 4 to and growing conditions, and to
5 inches deep and manure is illustrate once again the volatilpumped through hoses into the ity of the whole farm system.
To date, Duncan has been
slit.
After injection, closing able to conclude that manure
wheels follow to close the ma- injection reduces ammonia volatilization. Shallow disk injecnure-filled slot, which plays a tion did not increase nitrogen
key role in significantly reduc- losses in leachate or overland
ing ammonia volatilization by flow, and there was greater acreducing the air-manure con- cumulation of nitrogen in corn
tact time.
stalks in 2012 or 2013.
Greater amounts of manure
Yields and harvest removal
left on the soil surface during did not differ when compared
broadcast applications provide with broadcast manure applicaa higher likelihood of volatil- tion in 2012.
ization loss.
Inquiries related to her reTo determine the amount search can be directed to Emily
of nitrogen stored in the soil at ewd5089@psu.edu.
pool, deep soil cores are colVirginia “Ginny” Ishler is a
lected twice a year from each nutrient management specialplot — after harvest and before ist and manager of Penn State
manure application.
University’s dairy complex.
Duncan is checking for levels of niThis Week’s Poll:
trate,
ammonium
Are
you
pleased
with how the fall’s harvest
and total nitrogen.
During the corn- is shaping up this year in your
growing season, ad- area?
ditional soil samples  Yes
are taken to deter-  No
mine if the crop re-  Unsure
Vote at www.LancasterFarming.com
quires more nitrogen
than was provided.
Previous Poll:
At the end of the Should states do more to help farmers when
growing
season, neighbors try to shut down their operations?
plant samples are
Unsure: 2%
gathered and anaNo: 6%
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