Evaluation of chemical amendments to control phosphorus losses from dairy slurry

Abstract

Land application of dairy slurry can result in incidental losses of phosphorus (P) to runoff in addition to increased loss of P from soil as a result of a buildup in soil test P (STP). An agitator test was used to identify the most effective amendments to reduce dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) loss from the soil surface after land application of chemically amended dairy cattle slurry. This test involved adding slurry mixed with various amendments (mixed in a beaker using a jar test flocculator at 100 rpm), to intact soil samples at approximate field capacity. Slurry/amended slurry was applied with a spatula, submerged with overlying water and then mixed to simulate overland flow. In order of effectiveness, at optimum application rates, ferric chloride (FeCl2) reduced the DRP in overlying water by 88%, aluminium chloride (AlCl2) by 87%, alum (Al-2(SO4)(3)center dot nH(2)O) by 83%, lime by 81%, aluminium water treatment residuals (Al-WTR; sieved to