Improving Manure Management to Balance Nitrogen Use Effeciency and Environmental Trade-Offs.

Over the past few years there have been considerable interest in promoting methods that incorporate manures into soils without significant tillage. Conventional surface application methods leave manure vulnerable to environmental processes that enrich surface runoff with dissolved nutrients and increase emissions of ammonia and odor to the atmosphere. Understanding the agronomic and environmental trade-offs of different manure application technologies is critical to their sustainable use. Optimum management of manure N must promote efficient uptake by crops while minimizing ammonia volatilization, nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emission. This study seeks to assess trade-offs associated with conventional and new manure application methods. The objectives are to quantify nitrogen fate to crops, soil, air and water as a result of conventional broadcast application, shallow disk injection, and aeration followed by banding of manure.