Application of slurry at seeding time produces the best whole crop cereal silage yield without significant drawback in the first cut of timothy next year

Kapuinen, Petri

Tyynelä, Sanna

English

Application of slurry at seeding time produces the best whole crop cereal silage yield without significant drawback in the first cut of timothy nect year. Only Italian rye-grass contributes the WCCS yield. Neither Timothy nor Italian rye-grass produce significant yield the same autumn after harvesting the WCCS. Italian rye-grass ley could be established in barley harvested as WCCS in favourable conditions

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                                                                                                                                NJF-Seminar 372  Manure  - an agronomic and environmental challenge Arranged by NJF sections - Soil, Water and Environment - Engineering Nils Holgersson gymnasiet Skurup, Sweden September 5-6, 2005          NJF Report  •  Vol. 1  •  No 2  •  2005   63Cattle slurry as a fertilizer of whole crop cereal silage (WCCS) when renewing ley  Petri Kapuinen and Sanna Tyynelä, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Agricultural Engineering, Vakolantie 55, FIN-03400 Vihti, Finland, +358 9 22425227, petri.kapuinen@mtt.fi.  Introduction Cattle farms with long-term leys have had difficulties spread slurry without problems with fodder hygiene. A new approach is to shorten the ley rotation and found the new ley in barley intended for WCCS. This would provide a more frequent opportunity to use slurry without need to apply in ley during the productive years. The other opportunity would be the use of annual meadow grasses like Italian rye-grass to improve the feed value and yield of WCCS. In both cases the potential leaching of nutrients following a large rate of slurry used in the spring are mitigated by the uptake of meadow grass. However, a large rate of slurry at least applied in the growing crops might harm the establishment of perennial leys. The maximum application rate of slurry is on nitrate vulnerable zones usually limited by the limit for total nitrogen from animal manures stated in the Nitrate directive, 170 kg per ha and its national implementation. The whole Finland is declared to belong to the zone.  The aim of study was to find out feasible technologies to use slurry as a fertilise in WCCS production when establishing perennial leys or using Italian as a co-cultivar.  Materials and methods In this study we applied cattle slurry the same maximum amount according to the Nitrate directive and its national implementation when seeding barley WCCS (cv. Inari in 2002 and Saana in 2003) field, at 1 to 2 or 3 to 4-leaf phase with or without timothy or Italian rye-grass. The experimental design was a split-plot design. The whole plot treatments were no co-cultivar, timothy as a co-cultivar or Italian rye-grass as a co-cultivar. The sub-plot treatments were application of slurry when seeding, at 1 to 2 (7th June 2002 and 18th June 2003) or 3 to 4-leaf phase (18th June 2002 and 3rd July 2003). When seeding barley the slurry was injected at the same pass with seeding with the method developed by Kapuinen (2001). In the growing crops the slurry was applied with the same machinery imitating trailing hoses. The amount of slurry was 68 m3 ha-1 in 2002 and 63 m3 ha-1 in 2003. The nutrient contents of slurry in pre-samples were in kg m-3 tot. N 2.5, sol. N 1.0, P 0.45 and K 2.5 in 2002 and  tot. N 2.7, sol. N 1.6, P 0.57 and K 3.3 in 2003. 40 kg ha-1 of mineral nitrogen was drilled in all the treatments in combination with seeding to meet the requirement of soluble nitrogen. The field was ploughed in the previous autumn and leveled in the spring. The final cultivation before seeding was performed with a rotary cultivator with vertical shafts cross the plots. The seeding took place on 21st May 2002 and 2nd June 2003. In 2002 Italian rye-grass was seeded only on the next day. The amount of grain seed was reduced by 25% of the normal amount (500 grains per square meter) to ensure the establishment of perennial ley. The co-cultivars were seeded after rolling in the corresponding plots. The WCCS was harvested on 5th and 6th of July 2002 and 11th and 12th of August 2003. Yield components, feed value and hygiene will be reported elsewhere. The yield were analysed for amount and dry matter content (Table 1). In statistical analyses SAS mixed procedure and Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison were used.    64The establishment of perennial ley was measured as yields of the first cut of the next year (Table 2 and 3). In 2002 the applied nitrogen rates for the leys established previous year were 100 kg ha-1 (8th May), 100 kg ha-1 (23rd June)  and 50 kg ha-1 (1st August). The cuts took place on 17th June, 29th July and 6th October. In 2003 the appied nitrogen rates were 100 kg ha-1 (5th May), 100 kg ha-1 (15th June), 100 kg ha-1 (Italian rye-grass)/ 50 kg ha-1 (Timothy) (19th July), 100 kg ha-1 (Italian rye-grass) (13th August) and 100 kg ha-1 (Italian rye-grass) (20th September). Timothy was cut thrice (10th June, 16th July, 13th September)  and Italian rye-grass five times (in addition 12th August and 14th October).  Results and discussion  Table 1. Dry matter yields and their dry matter contents of whole crop cereal silage in 2002 and 2003       Whole crop cereal silage          Dry matter yields,     kg ka ha-1 Dry matter contents, %       2002 2003 2002  2003                     No co-cultivar  5570ab 4216 36.82a 44.67a Timothy 5423b 5092 38.71a 44.67a Italian rye-grass  6043a 5100 32.60b 39.47b        F value  5.32  5.81  19.29  11.31 DF  2, 6  2, 6  2, 6  2, 6 Co-cultivar p value  0.0469*  0.0395*  0.0024**  0.0092**                 When seeding  6346a 5186a 35.88  46.50a At 1 to 2 leaf phase   5431b 4752ab 35.77  40.50b At 3 to 4 leaf phase  5260b 4470b 36.48  41.80b        F value  31.93  3.64  0.63  18.74 DF  2, 17  2, 18  2, 17  2, 18 Time of application p value  <.0001***  0.0470*  0.5435  <.0001***                 When seeding  6123  4561  37.03ab 49.99 At 1 to 2 leaf phase  5201  4166  36.55ab 40.30 No co-cultivar At 3 to 4 leaf phase  5387  3921  36.87ab 43.72 When seeding  6271  5409  40.00a 48.47 At 1 to 2 leaf phase  5123  4931  37.34ab 41.73 Timothy At 3 to 4 leaf phase  4874  4936  38.78a 43.80 When seeding  6643  5587  30.59c 41.05 At 1 to 2 leaf phase  5967  5159  33.41bc 39.46 Italian rye-grass At 3 to 4 leaf phase  5518  4554  33.80bc 37.88        F  value  1.31 0.28 3.43  2.71 DF  4, 17  4, 18  4, 17  4, 18 Co-cultivar * time of application p value  0.3064  0.8886  0.0315*  0.0632o  In 2002 the WCCS yield was the best when the slurry was applied in combination with seeding of barley and Italian rye-grass.  However, the difference to no co-cultivar was not significant. Application at seeding time yielded 18.7% better than in growing crops on an   65average. In 2003 barley-timothy combination yielded about the same as barley-Italian rye-grass combination. Application of slurry at 1 to 2-leaf phase did not yield significantly differently than at seeding time or at 3 to 4-leaf phase. However, application at seeding time yielded 16.0% better than at 3 to 4-leaf phase. The regrowth of Italian rye-grass was minimal in both the years.  Dry matter contents were significantly lower in 2002 when using Italian rye-grass as a co-cultivar because the proportion of grass in it was larger than in the other treatments. In 2003 this was true only when slurry was applied when seeding.  In 2003, the first and third yield of timothy were 150.4% and 81.7%, respectively, better when slurry was injected in 2002 at seeding time than in crowing crops on an average (Table 2). There was no significant difference in the second cut. Italian rye-grass did not survive over the winter.  Table 2. Dry matter yields of timothy in the first productive year 2003 when the slurry was applied previous year when seeding, at 1 to 2 or 3 to 4 leaf phase.         Dry matter yield, kg ha-1   1st cut  2nd cut  3rd cut                  When seeding  2733a 2381  557a    At 1 to 2 leaf phase  1527b 2092  347b    At 3 to 4 leaf phase  656b 2425 266b          F value  20.40  3.59  55.20    DF  2, 6  2, 6  2, 6    Time of application p value  0.0021**  0.0942o  0.0001***     In 2004, the first yield of timothy was significantly better 25.4% when slurry was applied in 2003 at 3 to 4-leaf phase instead of 1 to 2-leaf phase (Table 3). Application at seeding time did not differ significantly from the application at either phase in growing crops. For some reason also Italian rye-grass survived over the winter 2003 - 2004. Therefore, its yields were measured as well. Italian rye-grass was cut five times totally. The yield of Italian rye-grass was significantly higher than that of Timothy. The largest yield was that of the second cut. The yield of ley was lowest when the slurry was applied when seeding previous year. The reason to that is most likely the best growth of barley on the year of establishment, which a negative effect on the establishment. It is not normal that Italian rye-grass survives over a Finnish winter. Therefore the results does not suggust that Italian rye-grass should be used this way in Finland but rather that it could produce a reasonable yield in case the weather in the winter regualarly facilitates its survival, maybe more south in Scandinavia.      66Table 3. Dry matter yields of timothy and Italian rye-grass in the first productive year 2004 when the slurry was applied previous year when seeding, at 1 to 2 or 3 to 4 leaf phase.        Dry matter yield, kg ha-1       1st cut  2nd cut  3rd cut  4th cut  5th cut  Total                           Timothy 3266a 3693b  3850        10808b Italian rye-grass  2742b 5023a 3976 1972  692  14405a           F value  12.02  178.18  1.38        244.90 DF  1, 3  1, 15  1, 15        1, 3 Co-cultivar of previous year p value  0.0404*  <.0001*** 0,2577        0.0006***                       When seeding  2651c 4234 3860  985 342  12071b At 1 to 2 leaf phase   2972b 4514 3915  994 353  12747a At 3 to 4 leaf phase  3388a 4326 3964  980 344  13001a           F value  20.78  2.78  0.31        7.57 DF  2, 12  2, 15  2, 15        2, 12 Time of application p value  0.0001***  0.0973o  0.7364        0.0075**                       When seeding 3216ab  3604  3685        10505 At 1 to 2 leaf phase  2920b  3803  3835        10559 Timothy At 3 to 4 leaf phase  3662a  3671  4029        11361 When seeding 2087c 4864 4035 1969  683  13637 At 1 to 2 leaf phase 3024ab 5224  3994  1987 706  14936 Italian rye-grass  At 3 to 4 leaf phase  3114ab 4982  3898  1960 687  14641           F value  14.48  0.23  1.69  0.06  0.18  3.78 DF  2, 12  2, 15  2, 15  2, 6  2, 6  2, 12 Co-cultivar * time od application p value  0.0006***  0.8006  0.2171  0.9466  0.8367  0.0533o  Conclusions Application of slurry at seeding time produces the best WCCS yield without significant drawback in the first cut of timothy next year. Only Italian rye-grass contributes the WCCS yield. Neither Timothy nor Italian rye-grass produce significant yield the same autumn after harvesting the WCCS. Italian rye-grass ley could be established in barley harvested as WCCS in favourable conditions.  References  Kapuinen, P. 2001. A new concept for use of pig slurry for cereals. In Proceedings of NFJ-Seminar no. 320, Denmark 16-19 January 2001.(Eds H.B.Rom & C.G.Sorensen). Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences. DIAS report No. 21, pp. 89-97.                                                                                  Contact:             NJF General Secretariat                                                            E-mail: njf@njf.nu         Website:www.njf.nu            ISSN 1653-2015                              

Cattle slurry as a fertilizer of whole crop cereal silage (WCCS) when renewing ley

   NJF – seminar no.372  Book of abstracts    Manure – an agronomic and environmental challenge  5-6 September 2005 Nils Holgerssongymnasiet, Skurup, Sweden     Maria Stenberg, Hans Nilsson, Rikharð Brynjolfsson, Petri Kapuinen, John Morken, Torkild Søndergaard Birkmose (eds.)    27Cattle slurry as a fertilizer of whole crop cereal silage (WCCS) when renewing ley  Petri Kapuinen and Sanna Tyynelä MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Agricultural Engineering, Vakolantie 55, FIN-03400 Vihti, Finland, tel +358 / 9 2242 5227, fax + 358 / 9 2242 610, e-mail petri.kapuinen@mtt.fi  Cattle farms with long-term leys have had difficulties spread slurry without problems with fodder hygiene. A new approach is to shorten the ley rotation and found the new ley in barley intended for WCCS. This would provide a more frequent opportunity to use slurry without need to apply in ley during the productive years. The other opportunity would be the use of annual meadow grasses like Italian rye-grass to improve the feed value and yield of WCCS. In both cases the potential leaching of nutrients following a large rate of slurry used in the spring are mitigated by the uptake of meadow grass. However, a large rate of slurry at least applied in the growing crops might harm the establishment of perennial leys. The maximum application rate of slurry is on nitrate vulnerable zones usually limited by the limit for total nitrogen from animal manures stated in the Nitrate directive, 170 kg per ha and its national implementation. The whole Finland is declared to belong to the zone. In this study we applied cattle slurry the same maximum amount when seeding barley WCCS (cv. Inari in 2002 and Saana in 2003) field, at 1 to 2 or 3 to 4-leaf phase with or without timothy or Italian rye-grass. When seeding the WCCS the slurry was injected with the method developed by Kapuinen (2001). In the growing crops the slurry was applied with the same machinery imitating trailing hoses. 40 kg ha-1 of mineral nitrogen was drilled in all the treatments in combination with seeding to meet the requirement of soluble nitrogen.  In 2002 the WCCS yield was the best when the slurry was applied in combination with seeding of barley and Italian rye-grass. Application at seeding time yielded 18.7% better than in growing crops on an average. In 2003 barley-timothy combination yielded about the same as barley-Italian rye-grass combination. Application of slurry at 1 to 2-leaf phase did not yield significantly differently than at seeding time or at 3 to 4-leaf phase. However, application at seeding time yielded 16.0% better than at 3 to 4-leaf phase. The regrowth of Italian rye-grass was minimal in both the years.  The establishment of timothy ley following the use of slurry at different times was measured as ist yieds in the first productive year. In 2003, the first and third yield of timothy were 150.4% and 81.7%, respectively, better when slurry was injected in 2002 at seeding time than in crowing crops on an average. There was no significant difference in the second cut. In 2004, the first yield of timothy was significantly better 25.4% when slurry was applied in 2003 at 3 to 4-leaf phase instead of 1 to 2-leaf phase. Application at seeding time did not differ significantly from the application at either phase in growing crops. Application of slurry at seeding time produces the best WCCS yield without significant drawback in the first cut of timothy next year.  Kapuinen, P. 2001. A new concept for use of pig slurry for cereals. In Proceedings of NFJ-Seminar no. 320, Denmark 16-19 January 2001.(Eds H.B.Rom & C.G.Sorensen). Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences. DIAS report No. 21, pp. 89-97.  

Cattle slurry as a fertilizer of whole crop cereal silage (WCCS) when renewing ley

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