Effect of Conservation Tillage and Poultry Litter Application On Soil Nutrient Stratification and Runoff Losses in a Continuous Corn System.

Effect of conservation tillage and poultry litter application on soil nutrient stratification and runoff losses in a continuous corn system Kreshnik Bejleri, Joshua M. McGrath, Ymene Fouli, Frank J. Coale, Rory Maguire, and Greg Binford Surface application of poultry litter in no-till corn production systems has been shown to increase the potential for nutrient losses in surface runoff. This study was conducted to determine whether conservation tillage could be used to partially incorporate poultry litter in order to reduce nutrient losses. Poultry litter was surface applied to continuous corn cropping system and immediately incorporated with one of four tillage practices for three years. The four tillage practices were no-till, strip till, vertical till, and chisel-disc. Soil samples were collected before manure application and at the end of the study at four different depths 0 – 5, 0 - 15, 15 - 30 and 30 – 60 cm. Soil samples were analyzed for Mehlich-3 P, water soluble phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), total Nitrogen (N) and pH. Natural runoff was collected from the plots during the growing season. Results of the soil sampling and runoff analysis will be discussed.