Abstract
Comparative studies of the effects of rates and frequency of application of dairy slurry on herbage yield and stand persistence of alfalfa and various forage grasses have not previously been conducted. The results being reported here are part of a larger study having a primary objective of comparing the effectiveness of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), various grasses and alfalfa-grass mixtures for utilizing nutrients from applied dairy slurry. The objectives of this part of the study were to evaluate the effects of various rates and frequencies of application of slurry on herbage yield and stand persistence of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and alfalfa-orchanrdgreass and alfalfa-reed canarygrass mixtures managed as a 4-cutting management system. A randomized complete block design with treatments in a split plot arrangement with four replicates was used. The main plots consisted of 9 fertility treatments: 7 slurry rate and time of application treatments, one inorganic fertilizer treatment, and an unfertilized control. The sub-plots consisted of the two grasses and two alfalfa-grass mixture mentioned above. Slurry was composed from stored solids scraped from the alleyways of a free-stall housing barn and water added to form a slurry having about 8% solids. Manure was pumped from a liquid spreader tank into 10.4 L garden water cans for manual application to the plots. Herbage yields within species were generally unaffected by various rates of application in the first production year. Herbage yields of grasses and alfalfa-grass mixtures the second year were generally not affected by frequency of application for the same rate of slurry applied. Slurry application resulted in greater herbage yield increases in grasses than alfalfa-grass mixtures in the 4-cutting management system. In general, herbage dry matter yields of grasses from the dairy slurry treatments equaled or exceeded yields from the inorganic fertilizer treatment. Stand ratings of grasses and alfalfa-grass mixtures were not changed by manure application rates. In this study, the highest rate of slurry ($967kg\;total\;N\;ha^{-1}$ in 1995 plus $2,014kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$ in 1996) was not detrimental to herbage yields or stand persistence of any of the species. It was concluded that applying dairy slurry to these cool-season grasses and alfalfa-grass mixtures managed in a 4-cutting system is an acceptable practice from the standpoint of herbage yield and satnd persistence and by doing so the utilization of inorganic fertilizers can be reduced.