The use of Dairy Manure Compost for Maize Production and its Effects on Soil Nutrients, Maize Maturity and Maize Nutrition

1996 ◽  
pp. 1126-1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. C. De Toledo ◽  
H. C. Lee ◽  
T. A. Watt ◽  
J. M. Lopez-Real
HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 1023D-1023
Author(s):  
John Sloan ◽  
Cynthia McKenney ◽  
James McAfee ◽  
Wayne Mackay

Dairy manure compost (DMC) may be an effective soil amendment when establishing new urban landscapes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bioavailability of DMC nutrients to typical urban landscape plants. In March 2003, DMC rates of 0, 9, 18, and 27 kg/m2 (0, 1.25, 2.5, 5 cm) were incorporated into the top 10 to 15 cm of Austin silty clay soil. Half of each 6 x 6-m plot was established with bermudagrass sod and the other half with six types of ornamental plants consisting of annual, perennial, and woody species. During the third 2005 growing season, plant tissue was harvested from selected landscape plants to measure biomass production and nutrient uptake. Plant growth and nutrient contents were compared to plant available soil nutrients that were measured during fall 2004 and 2005. Plant available P in the upper 7.5 cm of soil ranged from 89 to 170 mg/kg in September 2004 and from 31.3 to 105.5 mg/kg in August 2004. Potassium and trace elements (Fe, Cu, and Zn) were also increased in the upper 7.5 cm by DMC applications. Increased concentrations of plant available soil nutrients in DMC-amended plots were correlated to overall increases in plant growth and nutrient uptake. Bermuda grass exhibited increased growth and increased tissue concentrations of N, P, K, and Zn. Penta biomass and nutrient uptake were also increased by DMC applications. Lantana stem weights significantly increased with DMC application rate up to 18 kg/m2, but no additional increases were obtained with the 27 kg/m2 rate. Results of this study show that, after three growing seasons with no additional fertilization, a 1- to 2-cm application of dairy manure compost is sufficient to provide continued fertility to landscape plants.


2006 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 1090-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Twain J. Butler ◽  
James P. Muir

Author(s):  
Marie Limoges ◽  
Deborah A. Neher ◽  
Thomas R. Weicht ◽  
Patricia D. Millner ◽  
Manan Sharma ◽  
...  

Composted or heat-treated Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin (BSAAO) can be added to soils to provide nutrients for fresh produce. These products lower the risk of pathogen contamination of fresh produce when compared with use of untreated BSAAO; however, meteorological conditions, geographic location, and soil properties can influence the presence of pathogenic bacteria, or their indicators (e.g., generic E. coli) and allow potential for produce contamination. Replicated field plots of loamy or sandy soils were tilled and amended with dairy manure compost (DMC), poultry litter compost (PLC), or no compost (NoC) over two different field seasons, and non-composted heat-treated poultry pellets (HTPP) during the second field season. Plots were inoculated with a three-strain cocktail of rifampicin-resistant E. coli (rE.coli) at levels of 8.7 log CFU/m2. Direct plating and most probable number (MPN) methods measured the persistence of rE.coli and Listeria spp. in plots through 104 days post-inoculation. Greater survival of rE. coli was observed in PLC plots in comparison to DMC plots and NoC plots during year 1 (P < 0.05). Similar trends were observed for year 2, where rE. coli survival was also greater in HTPP amended plots (P < 0.05). Survival of rE. coli was dependent on soil type, where water potential and temperature were significant covariables. Listeria spp. were found in NoC plots, but not in plots amended with HTPP, PLC or DMC. Radish data demonstrate that PLC treatment promoted the greatest level of rE.coli translocation when compared to DMC and NoC treatments (P  < 0.05). These results are consistent with findings from studies conducted in other regions of the US and informs Northeast produce growers that composted and non-composted poultry-based BSAAO supports greater survival of rE. coli in field soils. This result has the potential to impact the food safety risk of edible produce grown in BSAAO amended soils as a result of pathogen contamination.


Crop Science ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1621-1628 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Randal Bow ◽  
James P. Muir ◽  
David C. Weindorf ◽  
Randy E. Rosiere ◽  
Twain J. Butler

2004 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 1365-1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAHBUB ISLAM ◽  
MICHAEL P. DOYLE ◽  
SHARAD C. PHATAK ◽  
PATRICIA MILLNER ◽  
XIUPING JIANG

Outbreaks of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with lettuce and other leaf crops have occurred with increasing frequency in recent years. Contaminated manure and polluted irrigation water are probable vehicles for the pathogen in many outbreaks. In this study, the occurrence and persistence of E. coli O157:H7 in soil fertilized with contaminated poultry or bovine manure composts or treated with contaminated irrigation water and on lettuce and parsley grown on these soils under natural environmental conditions was determined. Twenty-five plots, each 1.8 by 4.6 m, were used for each crop, with five treatments (one without compost, three with each of the three composts, and one without compost but treated with contaminated water) and five replication plots for each treatment. Three different types of compost, PM-5 (poultry manure compost), 338 (dairy manure compost), and NVIRO-4 (alkaline-stabilized dairy manure compost), and irrigation water were inoculated with an avirulent strain of E. coli O157:H7. Pathogen concentrations were 107 CFU/g of compost and 105 CFU/ml of water. Contaminated compost was applied to soil in the field as a strip at 4.5 metric tons per hectare on the day before lettuce and parsley seedlings were transplanted in late October 2002. Contaminated irrigation water was applied only once on the plants as a treatment in five plots for each crop at the rate of 2 liters per plot 3 weeks after the seedlings were transplanted. E. coli O157:H7 persisted for 154 to 217 days in soils amended with contaminated composts and was detected on lettuce and parsley for up to 77 and 177 days, respectively, after seedlings were planted. Very little difference was observed in E. coli O157:H7 persistence based on compost type alone. E. coli O157:H7 persisted longer (by >60 days) in soil covered with parsley plants than in soil from lettuce plots, which were bare after lettuce was harvested. In all cases, E. coli O157:H7 in soil, regardless of source or crop type, persisted for >5 months after application of contaminated compost or irrigation water.


HortScience ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 462B-462
Author(s):  
Nancy Roe ◽  
Johnnie R. Schmidt ◽  
Tobin Fojtik

Some possible alternatives to soil fumigation with methyl bromide include soil solarization and the use of composts to modify soil microorganism populations. We tested combinations of solarization and compost on a broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.) crop on an organic farm. Treatments were: solarization with compost (SC); solarization without compost (SW); compost only (NC); and an untreated control (NW). Dairy manure compost was applied manually to compost plots at 22 Mg/ha, raised beds were constructed, and solarization plots were covered with clear polyethylene from 13 July to 26 Aug. Black polyethylene mulch was applied to all plots, covering the clear polyethylene. Broccoli, cv. Packman, transplants were planted into the beds and fertilized with fish emulsion fertilizer three times for a total of ≈22 kg/ha N. Broccoli heads were harvested on 1, 5, and 9 Dec., trimmed to 15 cm, weighed and counted. Marketable yields were 8704, 7117, 8169, and 8374 (kg/ha) and mean head weights were 353, 228, 286, 313 (g) for SC, SW, NC, and NW, respectively. Under these conditions, head weights were highest with compost and solarization, and marketable yields were similar.


2009 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 1576-1584 ◽  
Author(s):  
JINKYUNG KIM ◽  
FENG LUO ◽  
XIUPING JIANG

The environmental variables affecting Escherichia coli O157:H7 regrowth in dairy manure compost were investigated. Factors evaluated were moisture content, strain variation, growth medium of inoculum, level of background microflora and inoculum, different days of composting, and acclimation at room temperature. A mathematical model was applied to describe E. coli O157 regrowth potential in compost. Repopulation occurred in autoclaved compost with a moisture content as low as 20% (water activity of 0.986) in the presence of background microflora of 2.3 to 3.9 log CFU/g. The population of all three E. coli O157 strains increased from ca. 1 to 4.85 log CFU/g in autoclaved compost, with the highest increase in the spinach-outbreak strain. However, E. coli O157 regrowth was suppressed by background microflora at ca. 6.5 log CFU/g. By eliminating acclimation at room temperature and increasing the inoculum level to ca. 3 log CFU/g, E. coli O157:H7 could regrow in the presence of high levels of background microflora. E. coli O157:H7 regrowth in the autoclaved compost collected from the field study was evident at all sampling days, with the population increase ranging from 3.49 to 6.54 log CFU/g. The fate of E. coli O157:H7 in compost was well described by a Whiting and Cygnarowicz-Provost model, with R2 greater than 0.9. The level of background microflora was a significant factor for both growth and death parameters. Our results reveal that a small number of E. coli O157 cells can regrow in compost, and both background microflora and moisture content were major factors affecting E. coli O157:H7 growth.


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