IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v182y2020ics0308521x19306407.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Simulated seasonal responses of grazed dairy pastures to nitrogen fertilizer in SE Australia: N loss and recovery

Author

Listed:
  • Christie, K.M.
  • Smith, A.P.
  • Rawnsley, R.P.
  • Harrison, M.T.
  • Eckard, R.J.

Abstract

Evidence from farm level studies indicates that there is potential to improve nitrogen (N) fertilizer efficiency of Australian dairy farms. Increasing N fertilizer application rates to drive pasture dry matter production beyond an agronomic or economical optimum has the potential to result in detrimental environmental outcomes. Our study, using the biophysical whole-farm systems model DairyMod, modelled a range of N fertilizer rates on total N loss for five dairy sites through south-eastern Australia, using 18 years of historical climate. Nitrogen accumulation in plant biomass and soil N accumulation within and below the rootzone were estimated. Total N loss, in the form of volatilization, leaching, runoff and denitrification lost to the environment were also estimated. The reduction in N fertilizer inputs required to achieve 90% of relative yield (Y90), relative to maximum pasture production (Ymax), was > 50% across all sites and seasons. The associated reduction in total N loss when fertilizer was reduced from Ymax to Y90, varied between 34% and 74%, depending on site and season. Nitrogen recovery (proportion of N recovered in biomass relative to N fertilizer applied) exceeded 100% with lower N fertilizer rates (< 30 kg N ha-1 month-1) for most sites and seasons. Demand for N was high during spring due to high pasture growth and this was supported via N mineralization and legacy N build-up in winter. Nitrate leaching risk was highest in winter for the four temperate sites and autumn at the subtropical site. This study demonstrated the benefits of developing site and seasonal-specific N fertilizer best management practice guidelines that are both economical and environmentally beneficial. When considering whether to add more fertilizer, the value of additional pasture production needs to be weighed up against environmental N losses and the cost of additional N fertilizer to achieve this. The relationship between seasonal soil and climatic conditions and N loss and recovery were also examined for one rainfed site. As this study does not consider the externalities associated with N loss, recommendations need to be considered and amended in the context of location specificity and seasonal climatic conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Christie, K.M. & Smith, A.P. & Rawnsley, R.P. & Harrison, M.T. & Eckard, R.J., 2020. "Simulated seasonal responses of grazed dairy pastures to nitrogen fertilizer in SE Australia: N loss and recovery," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:182:y:2020:i:c:s0308521x19306407
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102847
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X19306407
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102847?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chapman, D.F. & Kenny, S.N. & Lane, N., 2011. "Pasture and forage crop systems for non-irrigated dairy farms in southern Australia: 3. Estimated economic value of additional home-grown feed," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(8), pages 589-599, October.
    2. Stott, Kerry J. & Gourley, Cameron J.P., 2016. "Intensification, nitrogen use and recovery in grazing-based dairy systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 101-112.
    3. Stott, Kerry J. & Malcolm, Bill & Gourley, Cameron J.P. & Hannah, Murray C. & Cox, Matthew, 2018. "The ‘Dairy Nitrogen Fertiliser Advisor’ - a method of testing farmers’ fertiliser decisions against a meta-analysis N-response function," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 15, December.
    4. Smith, Andrew P. & Christie, Karen M. & Rawnsley, Richard P. & Eckard, Richard J., 2018. "Fertiliser strategies for improving nitrogen use efficiency in grazed dairy pastures," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 274-282.
    5. Smith, Andrew P. & Western, Andrew W., 2013. "Predicting nitrogen dynamics in a dairy farming catchment using systems synthesis modelling," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 144-154.
    6. Asseng, Senthold & Thomas, Dean & McIntosh, Peter & Alves, Oscar & Khimashia, Nirav, 2012. "Managing mixed wheat–sheep farms with a seasonal forecast," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 50-56.
    7. Christie, Karen M. & Smith, Andrew P. & Rawnsley, Richard P. & Harrison, Matthew T. & Eckard, Richard J., 2018. "Simulated seasonal responses of grazed dairy pastures to nitrogen fertilizer in SE Australia: Pasture production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 36-47.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed & Lulu Hou & Ruirui Yan & Xiaoping Xin & Yousif Mohamed Zainelabdeen, 2020. "The Joint Effect of Grazing Intensity and Soil Factors on Aboveground Net Primary Production in Hulunber Grasslands Meadow Steppe," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, July.
    2. He, Qinsi & Liu, De Li & Wang, Bin & Li, Linchao & Cowie, Annette & Simmons, Aaron & Zhou, Hongxu & Tian, Qi & Li, Sien & Li, Yi & Liu, Ke & Yan, Haoliang & Harrison, Matthew Tom & Feng, Puyu & Waters, 2022. "Identifying effective agricultural management practices for climate change adaptation and mitigation: A win-win strategy in South-Eastern Australia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    3. Ara, Iffat & Turner, Lydia & Harrison, Matthew Tom & Monjardino, Marta & deVoil, Peter & Rodriguez, Daniel, 2021. "Application, adoption and opportunities for improving decision support systems in irrigated agriculture: A review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    4. Smith, Andrew P. & Christie, Karen M. & Harrison, Matthew T. & Eckard, Richard J., 2021. "Ammonia volatilisation from grazed, pasture based dairy farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christie, Karen M. & Smith, Andrew P. & Rawnsley, Richard P. & Harrison, Matthew T. & Eckard, Richard J., 2018. "Simulated seasonal responses of grazed dairy pastures to nitrogen fertilizer in SE Australia: Pasture production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 36-47.
    2. Smith, Andrew P. & Christie, Karen M. & Rawnsley, Richard P. & Eckard, Richard J., 2018. "Fertiliser strategies for improving nitrogen use efficiency in grazed dairy pastures," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 274-282.
    3. Charné Viljoen & Janke van der Colf & Pieter Andreas Swanepoel, 2020. "Benefits Are Limited with High Nitrogen Fertiliser Rates in Kikuyu-Ryegrass Pasture Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-20, May.
    4. Mack, Gabriele & Huber, Robert, 2017. "On-farm compliance costs and N surplus reduction of mixed dairy farms under grassland-based feeding systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 34-44.
    5. Monjardino, Marta & Harrison, Matthew T. & DeVoil, Peter & Rodriguez, Daniel & Sadras, Victor O., 2022. "Agronomic and on-farm infrastructure adaptations to manage economic risk in Australian irrigated broadacre systems: A case study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    6. Mack, Gabriele & Kohler, Andreas, 2017. "Short- and long-run policy evaluation: support for grassland-based milk production in Switzerland," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 261116, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Thayalakumaran, T. & Roberts, A. & Beverly, C. & Vigiak, O. & Norng, S. & Stott, K., 2016. "Assessing nitrogen fluxes from dairy farms using a modelling approach: A case study in the Moe River catchment, Victoria, Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 37-51.
    8. Worden, David & Hailu, Getu, 2020. "Do genomic innovations enable an economic and environmental win-win in dairy production?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    9. Pedersen, Michael Friis & Gyldengren, Jacob Glerup & Pedersen, Søren Marcus & Diamantopoulos, Efstathios & Gislum, René & Styczen, Merete Elisabeth, 2021. "A simulation of variable rate nitrogen application in winter wheat with soil and sensor information - An economic feasibility study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    10. Smith, Andrew P. & Beale, Peter & Fulkerson, Bill J. & Eckard, Richard J., 2019. "Managing the nitrogen status of subtropical dairy pastures for production, efficiency and profit," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    11. Sahar Shahpari & Janelle Allison & Matthew Tom Harrison & Roger Stanley, 2021. "An Integrated Economic, Environmental and Social Approach to Agricultural Land-Use Planning," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    12. Smith, Andrew P. & Christie, Karen M. & Harrison, Matthew T. & Eckard, Richard J., 2021. "Ammonia volatilisation from grazed, pasture based dairy farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    13. Koesling, Matthias & Hansen, Sissel & Bleken, Marina Azzaroli, 2017. "Variations in nitrogen utilisation on conventional and organic dairy farms in Norway," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 11-21.
    14. Catalina Fernández Rosso & Franco Bilotto & Andrea Lauric & Gerónimo A. De Leo & Carlos Torres Carbonell & Mauricio A. Arroqui & Claus G. Sørensen & Claudio F. Machado, 2021. "An innovation path in Argentinean cow–calf operations: Insights from participatory farm system modelling," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 488-502, August.
    15. Kerry J. Stott & Brendan Christy & Malcolm McCaskill & Kurt K. Benke & Penny Riffkin & Garry J. O'Leary & Robert Norton, 2020. "Integrating crop modelling and production economics to investigate multiple nutrient deficiencies and yield gaps," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(3), pages 655-676, July.
    16. Browne, Natalie & Kingwell, Ross & Behrendt, Ralph & Eckard, Richard, 2013. "The relative profitability of dairy, sheep, beef and grain farm enterprises in southeast Australia under selected rainfall and price scenarios," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 35-44.
    17. Bilotto, Franco & Vibart, Ronaldo & Wall, Andrew & Machado, Claudio F., 2021. "Estimation of the inter-annual marginal value of additional feed and its replacement cost for beef cattle systems in the Flooding Pampas of Argentina," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    18. Capa-Morocho, Mirian & Ines, Amor V.M. & Baethgen, Walter E. & Rodríguez-Fonseca, Belén & Han, Eunjin & Ruiz-Ramos, Margarita, 2016. "Crop yield outlooks in the Iberian Peninsula: Connecting seasonal climate forecasts with crop simulation models," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 75-87.
    19. Berger, Horacio & Bilotto, Franco & Bell, Lindsay W. & Machado, Claudio F., 2017. "Feedbase intervention in a cow-calf system in the flooding pampas of Argentina: 2. Estimation of the marginal value of additional feed," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 68-77.
    20. Lewis, Claire D. & Smith, Kevin F. & Jacobs, Joe L. & Ho, Christie K.M. & Leddin, Clare M. & Malcolm, Bill, 2020. "Using a two-price market value method to value extra pasture DM in different seasons," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:182:y:2020:i:c:s0308521x19306407. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.