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Environmental Effects of a Medium-Fertility 12-Month Pasture Program: II. Nitrogen¹

ABSTRACT

Four small, medium fertility (56 kg/ha per year N) watersheds were used in a rotational summer-grazing and winter-feeding program to determine its effects on N levels in water. During a 5-year study on sloping uplands in Ohio, the concentrations of NO₃-N and NH₄-N were determined in precipitation, surface runoff, subsurface flow, and sediment. Although the NO₃-N concentration was generally higher in the surface runoff from the summer-grazing/winter-feeding area than from the summer-grazing-only areas, it usually resulted in no significant impairment of water quality, except on a few occasions when the NO₃-N concentration exceeded 10 mg/liter. The N transported in the subsurface flow from the summer-grazing only areas was approximately equal to that transported from the winter-feeding area and to the amount of N received in the precipitation. Both surface runoff transport and sediment transport of N were much greater in the winter-feeding area than in the summer-grazing-only areas because these latter areas yielded very little surface runoff and only a trace of soil loss. Reduction of vegetative cover and increased soil disturbance on the winter-feeding area resulted in increased surface runoff and soil erosion and thus more N was transported. Surface and subsurface losses of N from the winter-feeding area were nearly equal. A large percentage of N was transported by the large storms, which represented a small percentage of the total number of storms.

Key Words: water pollution • grazing systems • nonpoint source pollution • agricultural practices • nitrate transport

¹ Contribution of the USDA-ARS, North Appalachian Experimental Watershed, Coshocton, OH 43812, in cooperation with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, OH 44691. Research supported in part by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Grant R-804631. The EPA does not necessarily endorse any commercial products used in the study, and the conclusions herein represent the views of the authors and not necessarily the opinions, policies, or recommendation of EPA.

² Soil Scientist, North Appalachian Experimental Watershed; Professor of Agronomy, Ohio Agric. Res. and Dev. Ctr.; and Soil Scientist, North Appalachian Experimental Watershed, respectively.

Received for publication June 4, 1981.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. B. Owens and M. J. Shipitalo Surface and Subsurface Phosphorus Losses from Fertilized Pasture Systems in Ohio J. Environ. Qual., May 31, 2006; 35(4): 1101 - 1109. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. B. Owens and J. V. Bonta Reduction of Nitrate Leaching with Haying or Grazing and Omission of Nitrogen Fertilizer J. Environ. Qual., July 1, 2004; 33(4): 1230 - 1237. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]