Crop Yield and Soil Nutrient Response to Solid Cattle Manure Placement Method In a Black Chernozem In East-Central Saskatchewan.

New technology has evolved that allows for the subsurface injection of solid cattle manure (SCM) in bands. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of different SCM placement methods on crop yield, nitrate-nitrogen and soil test phosphorus over three growing seasons in a oat-canola-oat rotation.  Solid cattle manure was applied for three years in the spring before seeding at rates of 20, 40 and 60 t ha^-1 using broadcast alone, broadcast and incorporated, and subsurface injection placement with and without 80 kg N ha^-1 of banded urea. No significant (p≤0.10) oat yield response to manure rate or placement was observed in the first year. In the second year, canola yield was significantly (p≤0.10) higher in subsurface injection plus urea fertilizer treatment compared to subsurface injection without urea, broadcast alone, and broadcast and incorporated placement treatments. Oat yield in year 3 increased as SCM application rate increased. Soil test phosphorus (Modified Kelowna) in the 0-15 cm depth increased with increasing rate of SCM application from <50 kg P ha^-1 at the 20 t ha^-1 SCM application rate to over 200 kg P ha^-1in the 60 t ha^-1 application rate by the end of the third year. Soil extractable NO₃-N  was less affected by manure application, with 9 to 12 kg ha^-1 in the 0-15cm depth at the 60 t ha^-1 application rate.  The limited crop response to placement is explained by the low content of inorganic N in the manure susceptible to gaseous loss.