Soil Phosphorus Effects on Forage Harvested and Nitrogen Fixation on Canadian Organic Dairy Farms

Declining soil‐test phosphorus (STP) levels on eastern Canadian organic dairy farms is a concern because of potential negative impacts on forage growth and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). This study examined the relationship between STP, forage productivity, and BNF on organic or transitional‐or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agronomy journal 2013-05, Vol.105 (3), p.827-835
Main Authors: Main, Michael Hugh, Lynch, Derek H., Voroney, R. Paul, Juurlink, Shelly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dairy farms
Nitrogen fixation
Organic farming
Organic phosphorus
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Summary:Declining soil‐test phosphorus (STP) levels on eastern Canadian organic dairy farms is a concern because of potential negative impacts on forage growth and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). This study examined the relationship between STP, forage productivity, and BNF on organic or transitional‐organic dairy farms in Ontario (ON) and Nova Scotia (NS). More than two‐thirds of 28 legume–grass mixed forage fields in the study were low in available P by provincial soil‐test guidelines. Averaged across all fields over 2 yr, forage legume proportion was 46%, forage harvested 5.9 Mg ha–1, BNF 64 kg ha–1, and N harvested 153 kg N ha–1. Forage tissue P concentrations were clearly correlated with STP in the low soil‐test categories (
ISSN:0002-1962
1435-0645
DOI:10.2134/agronj2012.0500