Use of a surrogate to evaluate the impact of tillage on the transport of steroid hormones from manure-amended agricultural field

Biswas, S and Kranz, W.L. and Shapiro, C.A. and Mamo, M. and Bartlelt-Hunt, S.L. and Snow, D.D. and Tarkalson, D.D. and Shelton, D.P. and Mader, T.L. and van Donk, Simon J. and Zhang, T.C. (2013) Use of a surrogate to evaluate the impact of tillage on the transport of steroid hormones from manure-amended agricultural field. Transactions of the ASABE. 56:1379-1385.

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Abstract

Beef feedlot manure distributed to row crop production areas is a potential surface water contaminant source of the steroid hormones commonly used in beef cattle production. This article reports on research conducted at the University of Nebraska Haskell Agricultural Laboratory near Concord, Nebraska, in July 2009. Manure, collected from beef feedlot pens, was stockpiled for ten months prior to application to a row crop field. Previous research identified that the detection frequency of steroid hormones in beef manure varies greatly. Thus, a surrogate (17 alpha-ethynylestradiol, EE2) was applied at a rate of 75 g per ha to ensure detectable concentrations in surface runoff samples. EE2 was applied directly to beef cattle manure and to bare soil. The EE2 and manure were either incorporated using a single disk treatment (T) or left on the soil surface in a no-till practice (NT). A rainfall simulation experiment was conducted 24 h after manure and EE2 incorporation using a factorial design consisting of tillage, manure, and EE2 treatments. Runoff samples were collected at 5 min intervals during a 30 min runoff period for each plot. Results indicated 96 percent less EE2 mass transport from disk tilled plots compared to no-till. The greatest loss of EE2 was 156 and 6 mg per ha from no-till and disked plots, respectively. Results of this study showed that a single-pass disk tillage treatment can limit the overland transport of steroid hormones from crop production areas.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	1510
Subjects:	Air Quality > Air Emissions > Manure Management Soil > Tillage Soil
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	02 Sep 2014 19:19
Last Modified:	02 Sep 2014 19:19
Item ID:	1554
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1554