The Nutrient Content of Cattle Manures from Organic Holdings in England
2003
Shepherd, Mark | Philipps, Lois | Jackson, Lorna | Bhogal, Anne
Generally, there is much available information about the nutrient composition of cattle manures produced by conventional farming systems. There is less information on manure composition from organic holdings. Therefore, the nutrient content of 14 cattle slurries and 43 cattle farmyard manures (FYM) from organic holdings in England and Wales was analysed. The mean values for nitrogen, ammonium, phosphorus, potassium. magnesium and sulphur all exhibited large standard deviations, indicating the wide variability in composition between holdings for both slurry and FYM. Differences in dry matter content explained much of the variation in the nutrient composition of slurries, but not FYM. Average values were in good agreement with means previously reported for cattle FYM and slurries from organic holdings in mainland Europe. The average composition of manures from organic holdings appeared to be of lower nutrient content than the average for conventionally produced manures. For total N. P and K, these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05) for slurry. However, the variation was such that these differences were not statistically significant for FYM.
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