Incremental Farmyard Manure Experiment

(Stallmist Steigerungsversuch)

Contact: elke.schulz@ufz.de

1983 Incremental Farmyard Manure Experiment Bad Lauchstädt was laid out and started by Körschens. Main objective of the trial was examining the long-term effect of extreme high doses of farmyard manure (FYM) application on yield, nitrogen uptake by crops and soil properties. The trial was laid out as is a two factorial block experiment in two replications:

Factor 1

organic fertilization every year in 4 increments:
1 -     without FYM
2 -   50 t ha-1 FYM
3 - 100 t ha-1 FYM
4 - 200 t ha-1 FYM

Factor 2

land use in 2 increments:

1 - crop rotation
    1984 – 1989    sugar beets – silo maize – winter wheat
    1990 – 2007    sugar beets – potatoes – silo maize
    2008 – 2013    potatoes – sugar beets – silo maize
    2014                potatoes
    2015                continued silo maize

2 - mechanical bare fallow

Field map
Field map

The size of each plot in crop rotation is 64 m²; in bare fallow 32 m².

What was done
  • deep soil sampling (to 5 m depth) in 1992
  • parameters measured: TC, TOC, TN, labile C and N, mineral N
  • N balances
Results – labile C and mineral N
  • accumulation of labile, readily decomposable OM up to 60 cm soil depth
          - N source for plant
          - risk for N dislocations to deeper soil layers & gaseous losses
  • „land use“ effect was reflected in mineral N amounts
         - higher amounts in bare fallow as compared to crop rotation
         - in CR and all FYM treatments mineral N was transported only
           up to 1m soil depth
         - in BF most amounts of mineral N are placed in the 1 to 3m
         - marginal differences in mineral N between CR and BF in 3 to 5m
Future potentials whithin POF III "Resiliencing"

 "disturbance" options

disturbance options

Contact: elke.schulz@ufz.de