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Nitrogen Fluxes in Silage Maize Production: Relationship between Nitrogen Content at Silage Maturity and Nitrate Concentration in Soil Leachate

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Abstract

A challenge with respect to environmental soundness of agricultural production is the development of suitable indicators, which support an improved understanding and measurement of agricultural activities on environmental quality. The objective of this study was to investigate whether N concentration (Nc) of silage maize at silage maturity, a routinely recorded quality parameter, can serve as an indicator of nitrate concentration in the soil leachate (NO3C). The study was based on a 5-year experiment (1997–2001), conducted on sandy soil in Northern Germany. The experiment involved four mineral N fertilization rates (0, 50, 100, 150 kg N ha−1) and three slurry treatments (0, 20, 40 m3 ha−1). The water and N balance model HERMES was applied to simulate the N flows within the soil–plant system. The model performed satisfactorily for aboveground biomass accumulation, N uptake, soil mineral N, and nitrate leaching. Statistical analysis of the relationship between measured crop N concentration (Nc, g N kg−1) at silage maturity and simulated mean nitrate concentration (NO3C, mg NO31−1) of the leachate (October–March) revealed a significant impact of rainfall amount during spring/summer. Two exponential functions were estimated to describe the relationship for (i) ℈wet’ years: NO3C = 3.4253 × exp(0.3426 × Nc), and (ii) ℈dry’ years: NO3C = 6.8538 × exp(0.1811 × Nc). While in ℈dry’ years nitrate concentration exceeded the drinking water threshold even at very low N concentrations, the risk of high nitrate concentrations was negligible in ℈wet’ years. It is concluded that the newly developed indicator can provide a useful tool for assessing the potential risk of groundwater nitrate contamination in silage maize production.

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Abbreviations

DM:

dry matter

Nmin:

soil mineral nitrogen

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Crop Science and Plant Breeding, Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, D-24098, Kiel, Germany

    Antje Herrmann & Friedhelm Taube

  2. Centre for Agricultural Landscape and Land Use Research, Institute for Landscape Systems Analysis, Eberswalder Str. 84, D-15374, Müncheberg, Germany

    Kurt Christian Kersebaum

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  1. Antje Herrmann
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  2. Kurt Christian Kersebaum
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  3. Friedhelm Taube
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Correspondence to Antje Herrmann.

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Herrmann, A., Kersebaum, K. & Taube, F. Nitrogen Fluxes in Silage Maize Production: Relationship between Nitrogen Content at Silage Maturity and Nitrate Concentration in Soil Leachate. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 73, 59–74 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-005-7961-6

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