The Rural Voice, 1979-09, Page 42Recycling manure
saves energy
To the livestock operator, recycling
means more than returnable bottles. It's
returning manure to the soil and getting
ride of a waste product at the same time.
The key nutrient of manure, nitrogen,
should be used more efficiently by farmers.
says Dr. E.G. Beauchamp, Department of
Land Resource Science, University of
Guelph. Manure contains two nitrogen
components that fertilize the soil - am-
monium and organic nitrogen. Ammonium
is more readily available to growing plants.
Research at the Elora Research Station.
23 km (14 miles) north of Guelph, indicates
that when manure is spread on soil, about
35 per cent of the ammonium -nitrogen is
lost to the air in five or six days.
"To conserve nitrogen, disc solid man-
ure into the field as soon as possible during
spring manure removal," advises Dr.
Beauchamp. "Energy savings are consid-
erable if manure is recycled efficiently."
A project, sponsored by the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Food. involves
trial tests of injecting liquid manure into
the soil. A small liquid manure wagon is
equipped with a simple device so that the
liquid manure runs down a tube and into a
tine that deposits it in the soil.
"This experiment is designed to form a
part of a liquid manure handling system,"
says Dr. Beauchamp. "This method pre-
vents pungent odors and loss of ammonium
into the air."
He says liquid manure has been applied
successfully as a side -dressing to corn
plants, 10 to 24 cm (4 to 8 inches) high.
Excellent corn yields have been recorded.
Manure is a free by-product that
requires energy investment only in the
field. However, large amounts of energy
are required to produce commercial fertil-
izer which then requires more energy for
field application.
There is no soil test available for
nitrogen content, but Dr. Beauchamp
recommends a manure test if farmers are
unsure of the fertilizing capability of their
manure pile.
Remote sensing
device aids farmers
remote sensing, it can be collected quickly
and accurately.
Remote sensing uses special camera
equipment installed in air and space craft
to photograph earth features, including
crops.
All objects on the earth's surface absorb
and reflect varying amounts of sunlight.
Some of the sunlight reflected is in the
ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths that
the human eye cannot detect. A particular
crop under one set of conditions will always
give off a specific wavelength pattern that
registers on infrared film.
Corn shows up on infrared film different-
ly than oats and aphid -infested corn will
show up on the film with a different pattern
than healthy corn.
Scientists at the disease loss section of
Agriculture Canada's Ottawa Research
Station have been using aerial photographs
with infrared film to study the effects of
winter injury or alfalfa.
Alfalfa winter injury is a serious problem
most years in eastern Canada.
A number of factors affect winter
survival of alfalfa. including soil. climate.
diseases and pests.
A ground assessment of winter injury is
time-consuming and it is impossible to
determine by this method the extent of the
injury in large commercial fields. It is also
Space-age technology is being put to
work to help Canadian farmers become
more efficient.
Gathering information on crop product-
ion and crop diseases in the past has been
lengthy and time consuming. Now, using
difficult to determine which factors are
responsible for winter injury when more
than one is involved.
Using color infrared photographs, the
researchers were able to assess individual
plants in a large alfalfa field. Healthy
plants were larger and a deeper red. Weak
plants were smaller and lighter in color.
These photos were compared to other
photos taken which showed the soil types
and the moisture patterns in the field. As
with plants, soils give off distinctive
wavelength patterns.
In this way it was shown that plants grew
better in certain well -drained soils. Those
affected by diseases were also quickly
spotted.
By taking the photos throughout a
growing season and over a number of
years. a permanent record of plant survival
was made. These photographs demon-
strated that a strong recovery of the alfalfa
took place throughout the season and that
much of the winter damage was not
permanent.
The results of the study now are being
used to assess winter damage in other
alfalfa growing areas in the country.
In addition to the study on winterkill of
alfalfa. the researchers have also used
remote sensing to determine the amount of
bacterial blight in white bean fields. aphid
infestations in corn and late blight in potato
crops.
T. B. ALLEN LTD.
Feed and
MQ.G,
Fertilizer
CaII ....482-3363 523-9606 523-4414
ALLBORO FARMS
have alt requirements for • Elevating
• Drying and Storing your Corn
Call .... 523-4470
Londesboro, Ontario
PG. 40 THE RURAL VOICE SEPTEMBER 1979