Butler, T. J.

Evers, Gerald Wayne

Parsons, Margaret J.

English

Texas A&amp;M Repository

    PUBLICATIONS 2002 PHOSPHORUS AND POTASSIUM UPTAKE BY CRIMSON CLOVER·BERMUDAGRASS FERTILIZED WITH BROll..ER LITTER AND N FERTILIZERG. W. Evers, M. 1. Parsons, and T. 1. ButlerBackground. A disadvantage of using broiler litter as a plant nutrient source is that thenutrient ratio in broiler litter does not match forage crop requirements. Although it can varywidely, the average N-P20S-K20 ratio in broiler litter in East Texas is about 4:4:3. Because about25% of the N in broiler litter volatilizes and is lost, the available nutrient ratio is about 3:4:3. TheN:PzOs:KzO uptake ratio is 4: 1:3.3 for Coastal berrnudagrass and 4.4: 1:4.3 for annual ryegrass toreach 90% of maximum yield. This difference in nutrients applied vs. crop needs results in theuse of all the N but not P and K. With continued annual broiler litter applications the P remainingin the soil accumulates over time. Phosphorus can and does move in to rivers and lakes throughrunoff and erosion and cause environmental problems. Other research at Overton has shown thatapplying commercial N fertilizer in combination with annual broiler litter applications increasedP uptake by an annual ryegrass-Coastal bermudagrass pasture. A similar study was carried outsubstituting crimson clover for annual ryegrass and applying fifty pounds ofN/acre from 1 to 3times a year in April, June, and/or July in 1999 to the Coastal bennudagrass. Broiler litter wasapplied at 4 tons/acre in late April after the last clover harvest in 1999. The theory was that theclover would fix enough N from the air and eliminate the need for commercial N fertilizer. Thisapparently occurred since applying N fertilizer did not increase the annual combined yield ofbermudagrass and clover (yields reported in another paper in this publication). A sample of theharvested forage from each plot was analyzed for P and K to calculate P and K uptake.Research Findings. Phosphorus uptake by bennudagrass ranged from 17 to 24 Ib/acreand was directly related to yield. The higher the yield the more P was removed. Treatmentsremoving the most P were the control with no N applied, applying N in April and June, and inApril and July. These same treatments had the highest forage production. Phosphorus uptake byclover only ranged from 6.9 to 10.2 Ib/acre. Clover removed the least P when N was applied inApril and July, and April and June. There was no statistical difference in total (bermudagrass andclover) P removed among the N treatments but the control did remove the largest amount of P at33.1 Ib/acre. The clover appears to have provided sufficient N to the bermudagrass since therewas no yield response to N fertilizer. There was no difference among treatments for K uptake bybermudagrass, clover, or bermudagrass + clover combined (Table 2).21Applicatioa. Phosphorus and potassium uptake by Coastal bennudagrass was notinfluenced by N fertilization. Overseeding bermudagrass fertilized with broiler litter with a cloverwas as effective as applying N fertilizer to remove excess P and K from the soil.Table I. Bermudagrass, clover and total phosphorus uptake by nitrogen treatment for 1999-2000growm~ season.Bermuda~ass Clover Totallb P/acre50 Ib N/monthNone 24.1 at9.1 ab 33.1 aApril 20.1 be 9.7 a 29.8 aJune 18.5 be 8.8 a-c 27.3 aJuly 20.4 be 10.2 a 30.6 aApril, June 21.2 ab 7.2 be 28.3 aApril, July 20.8 a-c 6.9 c 27.7 aJune, July 17.2 c 9.6 a 26.8 aApril, June, July 18.7 be 8.3 a-c 27.1 atValues within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 0.05 level.Table 2. Bermudagrass, clover and total potassium uptake by nitrogen treatment for 1999-2000~owm~ season.Bennudaarass Clover Totallb KJacre50 lb N/monthNone 185 52 237April 167 43 210June 152 45 198July 161 45 206April, June 167 37 204April, July 175 37 212June, July 154 44 197April, June, July 162 44 20622

Phosphorus and Potassium Uptake by Crimson Clover-Bermudagrass Fertilized with Broiler Litter and N Fertilizer

https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstream/1969.1/189589/1/article128.pdf

Phosphorus and Potassium Uptake by Crimson Clover-Bermudagrass Fertilized with Broiler Litter and N Fertilizer

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Phosphorus and Potassium Uptake by Crimson Clover-Bermudagrass Fertilized with Broiler Litter and N Fertilizer

Abstract

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Full text

Available Versions

Texas A&amp;M Repository

Texas A&M Repository