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Nitrogen in Soil Cores and Ground Water under Abandoned Cattle Feedlots¹

ABSTRACT

Soil core samples from four abandoned beef cattle feedlots were analyzed to determine their chemical and physical characteristics. These cores were compared with those from active upland, intermittently used feedlots, and croplands. The nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N) in the abandoned feedlots averaged 7,200 kg/ha in a 9.1-m soil core, while the active upland, intermittently used feedlot, and cropland averaged 1,800, 2,100, and 570 kg/ha NO₃-N, respectively. The abandoned feedlot core with the highest NO₃-N had 18,200 kg/ha in a 9.1-m core. Nitrate-N levels in an abandoned feedlot after 15 years of corn-alfalfa rotation were comparable with cropland cores. Ground-water samples obtained from three of the four abandoned feedlots contained 77.2, 43.7, and 0.6 ppm NO₃-N.

Key Words: nitrate • coring study • feedlot management

¹ Contribution from the Animal Waste Management Research Unit, North Central Region, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in cooperation with the Nebraska Agric. Exp. Sta., Lincoln, NE 68583 and funded partially by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Published as Paper No. 3764, Journal Series, Nebraska Agric. Exp. Sta.

² Soil Scientist and Microbiologist, respectively, USDA, Lincoln, Neb.

Received for publication April 24, 1975.