Track 2-11: Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Cycling
Description
Animal excreta contribute positively to nutrient cycling and can improve the quality of soil (Dubeux et al. 2009, Carvalho et al. 2010). Cattle excrement, when evenly distributed over a pasture, can help to maintain plant nutrition without the application of fertilizers. The introduction of legumes intercropped with grasses benefits the soil by means of nitrogen fixation. Also, when ruminant animals eat legumes, the excrement produced may have lower C:N, C:P, lignin:N and lignin:P ratios promoting better nutrient return to the soil compared to when cattle eat only grass. Given the importance of nutrient return and decomposition time of cattle excreta on pastures, the objective of this study was to evaluate the decomposition of excrement of heifers managed in mixed grass-shrubby legume pastures and grass-only pastures.
Citation
Dubeux, José C. B. Jr.; Lira, Carolina Câmara; de Freitas, Erinaldo Viana; dos Santos, Mércia V. F.; de Andrade Lira, Mário; Dykstra, Caroline; da Silva Santos, Erick Rodrigo; and Filho, Fernando Tenório, "Decomposition of Cattle Dung on Mixed Grass-Legume Pastures" (2020). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 21.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/22/2-11/21
Included in
Decomposition of Cattle Dung on Mixed Grass-Legume Pastures
Animal excreta contribute positively to nutrient cycling and can improve the quality of soil (Dubeux et al. 2009, Carvalho et al. 2010). Cattle excrement, when evenly distributed over a pasture, can help to maintain plant nutrition without the application of fertilizers. The introduction of legumes intercropped with grasses benefits the soil by means of nitrogen fixation. Also, when ruminant animals eat legumes, the excrement produced may have lower C:N, C:P, lignin:N and lignin:P ratios promoting better nutrient return to the soil compared to when cattle eat only grass. Given the importance of nutrient return and decomposition time of cattle excreta on pastures, the objective of this study was to evaluate the decomposition of excrement of heifers managed in mixed grass-shrubby legume pastures and grass-only pastures.
