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Waste Accumulation on a Selected Dairy Corral and Its Effect on the Nitrate and Salt of the Underlying Soil Strata¹

ABSTRACT

The improvement of animal waste handling and treatment techniques depends upon understanding animal waste production and distribution patterns in a confined area. A corral was selected from a typical Chino-Corona, California area dairy to study waste accumulation and distribution on corral surfaces and to determine its effect on underlying soil strata. Waste deposited on the surface tended to accumulate in a small area of the corral; as much as 57% of the waste was in an area equaling 30% of the total corral surface. Considerable decomposition of organic matter and nitrogen loss took place during accumulation; however, collected waste samples were relatively unstable and subject to further decomposition. After a long period of dairy operations, leaching of nitrates, chlorides, and organic matter into soils was substantial. The same order of magnitude of leaching of chloride and organic carbon occurred throughout the entire corral surface. The amount of nitrate underneath the area of heavy waste accumulation was less than that in the other part of the corral. An apparent unfavorable condition developed for nitrogen transformations that reduced the amount of nitrogen subject to leaching. Future improvement in dairy waste management should take this into consideration in order to minimize its potential cause of ground water pollution.

Key Words: dairy cattle wastes • ground water pollution • chloride

¹ Contribution from the Dept. of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, University of California, Riverside 92502.

² Assistant Agricultural Engineer, Research Fellow, and Professor of Soil Science, respectively.

Received for publication April 27, 1972.