scholarly journals North Otago soils: physical properties and nutrient requirements for economic production

1996 ◽  
pp. 17-21
Author(s):  
J.D. Morton ◽  
A.H.C. Roberts ◽  
D.C. Edmeades ◽  
M.J. Manning
Keyword(s):  
Water Movement ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Olsen P ◽  
Nutrient Levels ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
Pastoral Production ◽  
Stocking Rates ◽  
Water Holding

North Otago soils are all of sedimentary origin but range in topography from flat alluvial and terrace soils to hill soils. Most of the farmed soils are yellow-grey earths on the rolling downlands or plains. Yellow-grey earths on the downlands have dense subsoils that limit water movement during wet winters and rooting depth during dry summers. Plains soils have shallow depths to gravels limiting water holding capacity and making irrigation necessary for intensive pastoral production. The relationships between soil nutrient levels and pasture production has been shown to be of the diminishing returns type. Soil nutrient levels for near maximum pasture production on North Otago soils are Olsen P 20-25, sulphate-S 10-12, organic-S 15-20 and quick test K 5-8. At high stocking rates profitable responses in pasture and animal production can still be gained at higher Olsen P levels. The decision support nutrient model (OUTLOOKTM) has been developed to help farmers apply fertiliser at optimum rates for economic production. Keywords: economic production, North Otago, phosphorus, potassium, sedimentary soils, sulphur, yellow-grey earths

scholarly journals Fertiliser requirements for peat soils in the Waikato region

2001 ◽  
pp. 47-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.B. O'Connor ◽  
R.D. Longhurst ◽  
T.J.M. Johnston ◽  
F.N. Portegys
Keyword(s):  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Peat Soil ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Nutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Peat Soils ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Olsen P ◽  
Productive Land

Peat soils cover approximately 94 000 ha of productive land in the Waikato and are an important soil resource for the region. Much of the research on peats in the 1950s-60s concentrated on the development of raw peats and later in the 1970s on nutrient deficiencies such as copper and selenium. Little to no work was undertaken on soil fertility/soil nutrient relationships of developed peat soils. In 1996, a series of eight field trials was established across a range of developed peat soils in the Waikato to investigate such relationships. The trials continued for 3 years. Results showed that the optimum Olsen P soil test for sustaining near maximum pasture production was 35-45, that K soil tests were of limited use on well developed peats and that winter leaching of S was likely to be important. The Anion Storage Capacity (ASC) test was found to be a valuable tool in indicating the degree of development of peat and in turn allowing interpretation of fertiliser responses. From these introductory investigations of nutrient requirements on peat soils some guidelines and recommendations are presented. Keywords: anion storage capacity (ASC), Olsen P, pasture production, peat, soil test

OBSERVATIONS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOIL FERTILITY, PASTURE BOTANICAL COMPOSITION, AND PASTURE GROWTH RATE; FOR A NORTH ISLAND LOWLAND PASTURE

1988 ◽  
pp. 141-144
Author(s):  
C. Matthew ◽  
R.W. Tillman ◽  
M.J. Hedley ◽  
M.C. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Olsen P ◽  
Sheep Farm ◽  
Tiller Density ◽  
Stocking Rates ◽  
The Relationship

Soil chemical fertility, pasture composition and pasture production data were collected for seven 'microsites' within two farmlets at Massey University's No. 1 sheep farm. Palmerston North. The two farmlets had been maintained for twenty years at stocking rates of 26 and 16 su/ha, and were found to have gradients (presumed to result from sheep grazing and camping behaviour) of increasing soil fertility away from a road and towards a shelterbelt. Microsites were placed along these gradients to include contrasting fertility levels for the two stocking rates. Mean values for soil pH, Olsen P and 'quicktest' K tiller density for the various pasture species and pasture production at each of the seven microsites are presented. A microsite where Olsen P = 109 was barley grass dominant and produced 10.5 t DM/ha/year. For other microsites ryegrass tillers per m2 increased with P and stocking rate; and white clover and sweet vernal growing points/tillers per m2 decreased with increasing P. Production ranged from 9.9 t DM/ha/year where Olsen P = 14 to 19.1 t DM/ha/year with different seasonal timing where Olsen P = 66.

Soil water in a fragiaqualf

Soil Research ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
DR Scotter ◽  
BE Clothier ◽  
RB Corker
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Water Movement ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Silt Loam ◽  
Large Structure ◽  
Matric Potential ◽  
Neutron Probe ◽  
Water Holding ◽  
Wilting Point

The profiles of density and soil water retentivity for a Fragiaqualf, the Tokomaru silt loam, were found to correspond with the morphological features, with a bulk density of up to 1670 kg m-3 and a negligible volume of macropores in the C horizon fragipan. The saturated hydraulic conductivity at undrained sites was as low as 0.1 mm day-1 in the B horizon, although there is evidence that at mole-tile drained sites the effective permeability is much higher. Water movement is non-uniform in the subsoil, apparently due to preferential flow between the large polygonal structure units. Comparison of neutron probe profiles and laboratory soil water retentivity data demonstrated the difficulties in using the latter to estimate the available-water holding capacity of the soil. The main problem was the lack of a clearly defined rooting depth. This was probably due to non-uniform water extraction from the subsoil by pasture roots, because of their preferential distribution between rather than within the large structure units. This made it impossible to correlate the 'permanent wilting point' with a particular soil matric potential.

Evaluation of residual nutrient effects in soils

1977 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
JS Russell
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Residual Effects ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Retention Capacity ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Time Of Application ◽  
Nutrient Levels ◽  
Theoretical Maximum

Some nutrients applied to soils remain available to plants well beyond their time of application. Efficient use of fertilizers requires better definition of these residual effects. In this paper the behaviour of nutrients applied to soils is expressed as a mechanistic model comprising two differential equations:A / dt = F(t) + K3U − (K1 + K2) − P(t) dU / dt = K1A − K3U, where A and U are the available and and unavailable soil nutrient levels and K1, K2 and K3 are the fixation, loss and release coefficients respectively. The applied nutrient F(t) and the nutrient removed in harvested plant products P(t) are considered as impulses to the system. The solved form of these equations can be fitted to appropriate field experimental data by using iterative least squares procedures and parameters estimated. The model has been fitted to 6 years' experimental data where pasture responses to 16 different superphosphates regimes were measured on a soil with a high phosphate retention capacity. The estimated rates of fixation (K1), loss (K2) and release (K3) of available phosphorus as percentages per month on this soil were 1.29, 1.48 and 0.072 respectively, with release extremely low. To maintain pasture production on this soil the model suggests that high rates of phosphorus will be required for a long time, that it is wasteful to apply phosphorus above a specified maintenance level (as such phosphorus is either fixed or lost) and that biennial application is more efficient than annual. From the model the theoretical maximum residual available nutrient, c, in a soil at time t after application, is c(t) = [(K1exp{− (K1 + K3)t + (K3] / (K1 + K3), with the decay curve asymptoting to the value K3/ (K1 + K3) at equilibrium. On the soil studied this value was 5.3%. In practice, because of losses and plant removal, residual nutrient levels are usually less than the theoretical maximum. It is postulated that if the ratio of available to unavailable nutrient in a soil at equilibrium is 1 / z, then the theoretical maximum proportion of available applied nutrient at equilibrium is 1 / (z + 1). The model is likely to be most useful for major nutrients where residual effects are important in practice, e.g. phosphorus, sulphur, potassium and magnesium.

Populations Dynamics of Soybean Insect Pests vs. Soil Nutrient Levels

Crop Science ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1629-1633 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Funderburk ◽  
I. D. Teare ◽  
F. M. Rhoads
Keyword(s):  
Insect Pests ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Levels ◽  
Populations Dynamics

The Environmental Relations of Vegetation Pattern on Chenier Beach Ridges on Bathurst Island, Northern Territory

1993 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 275 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Fensham
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Acid Soils ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Vegetation Pattern ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Beach Ridges ◽  
Nutrient Levels ◽  
Environmental Relations ◽  
Monsoon Rainforest

Radiocarbon dates confirm a chronological sequence for late Holocene beach ridges at Wangiti Beach on Bathurst Island. The vegetation on these beach ridges can be clearly related to topography and distance from the sea. Monsoon rainforest occurs on the fore-dunes where the nutrient levels of the young sediments are relatively high. The mid-dunes support woodland dominated by Melalueca viridiflora and have nutrient-poor acid soils. Vegetation with a high component of monsoon rainforest species occupies the rear dunes, which have a high concentration of seawater macronutrient cations despite their older age than more seaward dunes. The relatively low elevation of the rear dunes supports the suggestion that soil nutrient levels are enriched by sea water or marine sediments during infrequent inundation events such as those during cyclones.

scholarly journals An analysis of the risks and benefits of beef intensification

2000 ◽  
pp. 25-29
Author(s):  
Graeme Ogle ◽  
Philip Tither
Keyword(s):  
Financial Analysis ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Net Worth ◽  
Traditional System ◽  
Total Capital ◽  
Farm Business ◽  
Returns On Investment ◽  
Stocking Rates

Dairy beef enterprises are an intensification option for traditional sheep and beef businesses. Intensification largely refers to lifting soil fertility, the establishment of internal fencing and associated water supply, so that forage can be allocated with increasing precision. This precision enables higher stocking rates as a result of increasing pasture production, pasture quality, and intake leading to greater production of beef. Two beef finishing systems were compared; one a traditional system and the other a Technosystem. Using average parameter analyses, intensification was shown to pay at market returns of $2.50/kg of carcass weight under the production assumptions we used. The Technosystem showed significant returns on investment lifting the return on total capital invested in the farm business from 4.9% in a traditional system to 8%. We used two software programs; RANGEPACK HerdEcon and Stockpol™ to assess the risks a farmer would face when converting to a Technosystem. The two risks assessed were the variable climate of the East Coast and market prices. While these parameters vary considerably, the probability of doing better than the traditional system is high (84.7%). This declined rapidly if final stocking rates were less than 4 bulls per hectare with the probability of doing better reducing to 58% at 3.5 bulls per hectare. We also showed that the variability in cash surpluses is reduced by development with the coeffiecient of variation for the traditional system at 126% compared with the Technosystem of 95%. Variability does have a moderate effect on reducing overall profitability (13.4%), most of which (9.3%) is caused by markets rather than climate. Our conclusion is that beef intensification provides a reliable means of increasing net worth and cash surpluses. Keywords: beef intensification, bull finishing, climatic variability, financial analysis, price variability, risk, Technosystems

scholarly journals Effects of Growing-Finishing Pig Stocking Rates on Bermudagrass Ground Cover and Soil Properties

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1666
Author(s):  
Silvana Pietrosemoli ◽  
Charles Raczkowski ◽  
James T. Green ◽  
Maria Jesús Villamide
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Cynodon Dactylon ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Finishing Pigs ◽  
Finishing Pig ◽  
Stocking Rates

This study compares four stocking rates (37, 74, 111 and 148 pigs ha−1) for growing to finishing pigs (18.4 ± 0.5 kg and 118.5 ± 2.0 kg and 35.7 ± 2.1 kg and 125.7 ± 2.3 kg initial and final BW for grazing periods 1 and 2, respectively) and their effect on ground cover and soil traits in bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers) pastures, over two 14-week grazing periods (July–September and May–August). The study was conducted at the Center for Environmental Farming systems at the Cherry Research Station, Goldsboro North Carolina. A continuous stocking method was implemented to manage the pasture. The percent ground cover was estimated with a modified step point technique. Soil samples were collected in three sampling positions (center, inner and outer areas of the paddocks) and two soil sampling depths (0–30 and 30–90 cm). The experimental design was a completely randomized block with three field replicates. Data were analyzed using the PROC GLIMMIX procedure of SAS/STAT ® Version 9.4. Greater ground cover and lesser soil nutrient concentrations were registered in bermudagrass paddocks managed with 37 pigs ha−1. The results of this study also validated the existence of a spatial pattern of soil properties, which differed among sampling positions and depths.

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