Sodic soil reclamation using cottage cheese (acid) whey

Jones, S.B. and Robbins, C.W. and Hansen, C.L. (1993) Sodic soil reclamation using cottage cheese (acid) whey. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation. 7:51-61.

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Abstract

Cottage cheese production in the United States yielded approximately
3 x 10^6 Mg of cottage cheese (acid) whey in 1991. Unmarketable whey is disposed
of in sewage treatment facilities or on land. Environmental concerns and new laws
make disposal even more costly and difficult. While much whey is applied to land for
fertilizer or disposal purposes, acid whey has recently been used as a sodic soil
amendment. The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of whey
application on chemical properties and infiltration rates of sodic soils. Four treatments
of acid whey (0, 25, 50, and 100 mm) were applied to Freedom silt loam
(fine-silty, mixed, mesic, Xerollic Calciorthids) in greenhouse lysimeters and to Declo
loam (coarse-loamy, mixed, mesic, Xerollic Calciorthids) in field basins. Accumulative
sodium removal at 0.5 pore volumes of leachate was 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.7
mol for the 0-, 25-, 50-, and 100-mm lysimeter treatments, respectively. Whey applications
lowered sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), exchangeable sodium percentage
(ESP), and saturation paste pH in the lysimeter surface soil (0-150 mm) and field
soil surface (10-150 mm). Saturated paste electrical conductivity was not significantly
altered by whey application. In a greenhouse environment, 28 days after whey
application, infiltration times in the 25-, 50-, and 100-mm treatments were 320, 430,
and 420% of the 0-mm treatment, respectively. Infiltration times for field basin 25-,
50-, and 100-mm whey treatments were 33, 31, and 26% of the 0-mm treatment 53
days after whey application, respectively. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. I rad)
grain yield was 0.0, 0.0, 0.44, and 0.26 kg m-2 and total dry matter yield was 0.54,
0.72, 2.0, and 1.4 kg m-2 for the 0-, 25-, 50-, and 100-mm treatments, respectively.
Excess salts and/or organic overloading in the 100-mm treatment appeared to inhibit
initial plant growth. Results indicate that acid whey is effective in reclaiming sodic
soil by lowering ESP, SAR, and pH and by improving infiltration.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0791
Subjects:	Soil > Amendments > Whey Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:53
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2016 21:48
Item ID:	592
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/592