Preliminary results of a Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute three-year study are proving that hog manure is a tremendous yield booster when applied to forage crops.
PAMI researchers injected liquid manure into plots of crested wheatgrass, smooth brome grass, and Russian wild-rye in three regions of Saskatchewan, and at low (3,300 gal./acre), medium (6,600 gal./acre), and high (13,200 gal./acre) application rates.
The response, said PAMI project manager Gord Hultgreen, “was dramatic.”
Yields in plots treated with hog manure were two to four times higher than control plots. Moreover, applications made in the first year had enough residual carry-over to produce much higher forage yields in the second year than the control plots.
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A bonus was the success of an Irish-made manure injector called the GreenTrac. It proved effective in injecting hog manure at the desired depth with low disturbance and minimal crop injury. However, the machine’s maximum depth limited injection volume, making it less effective at high rates.
Crested wheatgrass was most responsive to manure as measured by yield increase against the check plots. Russian wild-rye was least responsive, while smooth brome showed an intermediate response.
“It looks like grassland stands are well suited to using hog manure as a fertilizer.”
However, Hultgreen said hay producers should ensure a proper forage quality analysis is done to check on nitrate levels before feeding manure-fertilized forage to livestock.
Nitrate analysis of harvested wheatgrass and alfalfa/brome in this project revealed acceptable nitrate levels with the application rates used. In one instance, Russian wild-rye produced excessive tissue nitrate levels at the high application rate when forage response was poor. There was no evidence of nitrogen leaching below 30 cm for any of the treatments.
One more season of manure application and yield response will be performed this summer.
