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Nitrate Leaching in a Udic Haploboroll as Influenced by Fertilization and Legumes

Agriculture Canada Research Station, Box 1030, Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada, S9H 3X2;
Agriculture Canada Experimental Farm, Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada S0G 2K0.

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

An ongoing 34-yr crop rotation experiment being conducted on a heavy clay at Indian Head, SK, allowed a snap-shot assessment to be made of the influence of fertilization, legume green manure and legume-grass hay crops, and frequency of cropping to monoculture hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on deep leaching of soil nitrate (NO₃). The results showed that NO₃ leaching was greatest when summer fallowing was most frequently employed. Although N fertilization may increase No₃-N leached, using a soil test as a guide to choosing fertilizer application rates and cropping annually will minimize NO₃ leaching. Further, we found that, although deep-rooted forage crops such as alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) remove NO₃ and water to a depth of 2.4 m, and because legumes increase the N supplying power of the soil, considerable NO₃ leaching can still occur under these systems. This is especially true if legume plowdown is followed by a fallow period, because during the fallow period, copious net N mineralization may occur together with increased soil moisture storage. These results do not imply that NO₃ leaching is pervasive on the Canadian Prairies, but they do confirm certain well-known principles: viz., that NO₃ leaching can be expected whenever conditions favor NO₃ accumulation and water buildup in soil. Consequently, it is important to keep the land cropped for a large proportion of the time and to use fertilizers at moderate rates based on soil tests.