Balancing Nitrogen Sinks and Sources Using Cover Crops On Manured Fields.

Winter cover crops offer a promising means of foraging residual nitrogen common in heavily manured soils, thereby reducing potential N leaching losses in the fall and winter. However, in the spring these same crops provide the carbon source along with the potentially anaerobic conditions provided through snowmelt, creating a potential “perfect storm” for denitrification.

Additionally, with the combination of inorganic fertilizers applied at spring planting of maize, these same cover crops provide an additional source of carbon for continued denitrification into the growing season. Currently, there exists very little research detailing a full accounting of the potential N savings derived through cover crops on manured fields versus the potential denitrification losses accelerated by these same cover crops.