Wednesday, November 7, 2007
245-13

The Effect of Repeated Liquid Swine Manure Applications on Soil Nutrient Supply Rates and Growth of Different Hybrid Poplar Clones.

Ryan D. Hangs, Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8, Canada, Kenneth Greer, Consultant, Western Ag Innovations Inc., #3-411 Downey Road, Saskatoon, SK S7N 4L8, CANADA, and W.R. (Bill) Schroeder, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Shelterbelt Centre, Indian Head, SK S0G 2K0, Canada.

Intensive hog operations generate large amounts of manure that must be dealt with in an environmentally responsible and economically practical manner. Repeated applications of liquid swine manure within nearby hybrid poplar plantations recently has been proposed as an effective alternative manure management practice, given that these fast-growing tree species have high soil moisture and nutrient demands and, therefore, represent a tremendous sink for the applied effluent. The objectives of this two-year study were to: i) evaluate the effect of repeated broadcast applications of liquid swine manure on soil nutrient supply rates and growth of eight hybrid poplar clones (Walker, Assiniboine, CanAm, Hill, Katepwa, Northwest, Okanese, and WT-66V) and, ii) assess the relationship between growing season soil nutrient supply rates, measured using in situ burials of ion-exchange membrane (Plant Root Simulator™-probes), and growth of different hybrid poplar clones. Determining the effects of repeated applications of hog effluent on soil nutrient supply rates and subsequent tree growth should help to support effective management strategies, in terms of developing practical effluent management practices required to mitigate any adverse environmental effects, but also increasing plantation productivity and the concomitant non-wood product benefit of increasing biodiversity within the agricultural landscape.