Tuesday, November 14, 2006
217-25

Evaluation of N-Viro Soil and NureSoil Products for Environmental Impact and Phosphorus Phytoavailability.

Lee Jacobs, Dept of Crop & Soil Sciences, Michigan State Univ, East Lansing, MI 48824-1325

N-Viro products made from the combination of biosolids and alkaline residuals (N-Viro Soil) and the combination of animal manure and alkaline residuals (NureSoil) provide an opportunity of utilizing waste residuals from people and animals for resource recycling. The N-Viro process has been approved by the USEPA as a method suitable for producing a stable, Class A biosolids. This process has also been applied to animal manure to produce a stable, low odor and pathogen-free product that could be stored and land-applied without creating odor nuisances or concerns regarding disease organisms. We initiated a field experiment in October, 2001, with East Lansing N-Viro Soil (ELNVS) and swine NureSoil (SNS) provided by the N-Viro Corp. The final rates applied for the ELNVS were 18, 130 and 269 mt/ha and for the SNS were 29, 58, and 224 mt/ha. Field corn (Zea mays L, variety Dekalb 493) and soybeans (Glycine max L., variety Pioneer 92B38) were grown during the 2002, 2003, and 2004 growing seasons. Whole plant samples, soybean leaf petioles @ early blossom, and corn earleaf samples @ silking were collected each year. Surface soil samples were collected several times each year to test for soil fertility, hot water soluble B, SO4-S, and PSNT levels. Soil samples were also collected from the 0-30, 30-60, and 60-90 cm depths on April 25-26, 2002 to be used for background concentrations of various pollutants, and then resampled in April, 2003 and April, 2005 to evaluate any potential leaching of pollutants. Results for this field study will be presented.

Handout (.pdf format, 376.0 kb)