Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:24:02.505Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Urea as a nitrogen fertilizer for grass cut for silage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

A. Lloyd
Affiliation:
Soil Science Department, Agricultural Development and Advisory Service, Burghill Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol BS10 6NJ, UK

Summary

Forty-one experiments were carried out in England and Wales between 1983 and 1985 to compare ammonium nitrate and urea as N top dressings for multicut silage.

The results showed that relative dry matter yields from the two fertilizers differed considerably between sites. However, compared with ammonium nitrate, there was a mean yield decrease with urea of 2% at the first cut and 5% at the second cut. Mean herbage N contents and apparent N recoveries were lower with urea than with ammonium nitrate at both the first and second cuts. It appeared, at least for first-cut dressings applied in early spring, that urea effectiveness increased with the amount of rain falling within 3 days of fertilizer application. The effect was much less obvious at the second cut.

Urea effectiveness was not markedly reduced on soils of high pH or light texture, where higher ammonia volatilization losses might have been expected.

Type
Crops and Soils
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bouwmeester, R. J. B., Vlek, P. L. G. & Stumpe, J. M. (1985). Effect of environmental factors on ammonia volatilization from a urea-fertilized soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal 49, 376381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaney, K. & Paulson, G. A. (1988). Field experiments comparing ammonium nitrate and urea top-dressing for winter cereals and grassland in the UK. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 110, 285299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devine, J. R. & Holmes, M. J. R. (1963 a). Field experiments comparing ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate and urea applied repetitively to grassland. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 60, 297304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devine, J. R. & Holmes, M. J. R. (1963 b). Field experiments on the value of urea as a fertilizer for barley, sugar beet, potatoes, winter wheat and grassland in Great Britain. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 61, 391396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gasser, J. K. R. (1964). Urea as a fertilizer. Soils and Fertilisers 27, 175180.Google Scholar
Herlihy, M. & O'keeffe, W. F. (1987). Evaluation and model of temperature and rainfall effects on response to N sources applied to grassland in spring. Fertilizer Research 13, 255267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoult, E. H. & Mcgarity, J. W. (1986). The measurement and distribution of urease activity in a pasture system. Plant and Soil 93, 359366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoult, E. H. & Mcgarity, J. W. (1987). The influence of sward mass, defoliation and watering on ammonia volatilization losses from an Italian ryegrass sward topdressed with urea. Fertilizer Research 13, 199207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keane, G. P., Griffith, J. A. & O'reilly, J. (1974). A comparison of calcium ammonium nitrate, urea and sulphate of ammonia as nitrogen sources for grass. Irish Journal of Agricultural Research 13, 293300.Google Scholar
Ministry Of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (1986). The Analysis of Agricultural Materials. Reference Book 427. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Mundy, E. J. (1966). Comparison of different sources of nitrogen for grassland when applied as liquid or solid fertilizer. Experimental Husbandry 14, 4349.Google Scholar
Murphy, W. E. (1983). Comparing urea and CAN al different locations. Farm and Food Research 14, 4143.Google Scholar
Rodgers, G. A., Widdowson, F. V., Penny, A. & Hewitt, M. V. (1984). Comparison of the effects of aqueous and of prilled urea, used alone or with urease or nitrification inhibitors, with those of ‘Nitro-Chalk’ on ryegrass leys. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 103, 671685.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryden, J. C, Lockyer, D. R. & Bristow, A. W. (1983). Gaseous losses from fertiliser N applied in later winter. Annual Report, The Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, UK. 19831984. Hurley: Grassland Research Institute.Google Scholar
Swift, G., Cleland, A. T. & Franklin, M. F. (1988). A comparison of nitrogen fertilizers for spring and summer grass production. Grass and Forage Science 43, 297303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sylvester-Bradley, R., Dampney, P. M. R. & Murray, A. W. A. (1982). The response of winter wheat to nitrogen. In The Nitrogen Requirement of Cereals, pp. 151174. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Reference Book 325. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Templeman, W. G. (1961). Urea as a fertiliser. Journal of Agriculiural Science, Cambridge 57, 237299.Google Scholar
Terman, G. L. (1979). Volatilization losses of nitrogen as ammonia from surface-applied fertilizers, organic amendments and crop residues. Advances in Agronomy 31, 189223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van, Burg P. F. J., Dilz, K. & Prins, W. H. (1982). Agricultural value of various nitrogen fertilizers. Netherlands Nitrogen Technical Bulletin 13, 151.Google Scholar
Watson, C. J. (1988). An assessment of granular ureaampsolsemicolon ammonium sulphate and ureaampsolsemicolonpotassium nitrate fertilizers on nitrogen recovery by ryegrass. Fertilizer Research 18, 1930.Google Scholar