N, P, K, Mg, and Ca removal for brown midrib sorghum sudangrass in New York. NY-05F

Results of six 2004 field studies conducted in New YorkState.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesiumand calcium removal by brown midrib sorghum sudangrass.

Results of six2004 field studies conducted in New York State

Q.M. Ketterings1, G. Godwin1,T.F. Kilcer2, P. Barney3, M. Hunter4, J.H. Cherney1, S. Beer1

1Crop Soil Sciences, CornellUniversity, 2CCE RensselaerCounty, 3CCE St LawrenceCounty,

4CCE JeffersonCounty

Introduction

In the past five years, Northeastern USA dairy producers have shown a growing interest in brown mid-rib sorghum sudangrassas an environmentally sound alternative to corn that, grown in a 2-cut system with planting taking place after June 1, allows for the application of manure in times that the manure nutrients are less susceptible to leaching and runoff. These past years, research focused on determining best management practices including seeding rate, stand height management in a 2-cut system, nitrogen and potassium management.

For the long-term sustainability of the dairy industry, manure application rates should not exceed crop removal for more years than needed to bring low fertility soils to optimum fertility. Thus, it is important to know N, P and K removal rates by this crop. Our objectives were to determine N, P, K, Ca and Mg removal with harvest using 6 nitrogen rate studies conducted in three major agricultural areas in New YorkState (NorthernNY, EasternNY and Central NY).

Materials and Methods

Table 1 shows brief descriptions of the sites used for this study.The trial in Columbia County had received manure (about 5,600 gallons per acre plowed down within 5 hours resulting in an application of 120 lbs/acre available N assuming 65% availability of inorganic N and an organic N release of 35%) and had 5 N treatments (0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 lbs N/acre per cut) as well as a control that had not received any manure or fertilizer since 2002. N applications were done using urea. All other trials had 6 treatments (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 lbs N/acre per cut) and N applications in the form of ammonium sulfate (21% N) to minimize volatilization losses. Pre-plant fertilizer was applied according to soil tests following Cornell guidelines (Essex trial: 80 lbs K2O/acre and 20 lbs P2O5/acre; Cayuga trial: 60 lbs K2O/acre and 30 lbs P2O5/acre; Tompkins trial: 20 lbs K2O/acre and 20 lbs P2O5/acre). No additional P or K was added in ColumbiaCounty. The trials in St Lawrence and JeffersonCountiesreceived 30 lbs K2O/acre and 45 lbs of P2O5/acre. Each trial was replicated four times. Cutting height was 3-3.5 inches and harvest was initiated when the plots that received 150 lbs N/acre per cut had reached 35-45 inches. At each site, two harvests were done with the exception of the site in Jefferson Country where only one cut was feasible due to late planting.We determined yield and took subsamples to determine moisture content and nutrient concentrations. All samples were analyzed for total N, P, K, Ca and Mg at the forage laboratory of DairyOne Cooperative Inc. in Ithaca, NY.

Table 1: Soil fertility of the six New YorkStatesites used for N rate studies for BMR sorghum sudangrass in 2004.

Soil Fertility at Onset of the Trials (n=24)
Jefferson / St Lawrence / Columbia† / Essex / Cayuga / Tompkins
Soil Series
Rhinebeck
silt loam / Hailesboro
silt loam / Knickerbocker fine sandy
loam / Cosad
loamy fine
sand / Lima
silt loam / Bath/Valois gravelly
silt loam
Cropping History
Continuous corn / Sorghum sudangrass / 3rd year after sod kill / First year following
grass/alfalfa sod kill / Following wheat (2003) and barley (2002) / Following
corn (2003)
and barley
(2002)
Soil Fertility (Morgan extraction)
pH (1:1) / 6.1 / 6.4 / 5.8 / 6.5 / 7.8 / 6.7
OM (%) / 4.3 / 4.1 / 4.6 / 3.4 / 4.0 / 7.6
P (mg P/kg)‡ / 7.2 (H) / 5.2 (H) / 7.3 (H) / 14.0 (H) / 6.0 (H) / 8.0 (H)
K (mg K/kg)‡ / 58 (H) / 53 (M) / 33 (L) / 24 (L) / 47 (M) / 103 (H)
Ca (mg Ca/kg)‡ / 1208 / 1327 / 902 / 1250 / 2800 / 2356
Mg (mg Mg/kg)‡ / 203 (VH) / 223 (VH) / 149 (VH) / 91 (H) / 259 (VH) / 290 (VH)
Nitrate(mg N/kg) / 5.6 / 10.5 / - / 7.9 / 5.7 / 0.6
Salts (mmho) / 0.14 / 0.14 / 0.12 / 0.16 / 0.16 / 0.20
Fertilizer Addition at Planting (M = added with manure)
lbs P2O5/acre / 45 / 45 / 84 (M) / 20 / 30 / 20
lbs K2O/acre / 30 / 30 / 168 (M) / 80 / 60 / 20

†Soil samples were not taken at the onset of this particular trial. Basic soil fertility assessments reported in this table are based on mean values for the 0 N plots (n=4) sampled after the 1st cut.

‡Values are reported in mg/kg (equals ppm). To convert to lbs/acre multiply values by two.

Results and Discussion

Optimum economic yields varied from 7.2 tons/acre (65% moisture) for the site in JeffersonCounty (one cut only) to 13.4-13.8tons/acre in Columbiaand EssexCounties (Table 2). Although no direct comparison was done, yields seemed lower than would have been expected for corn in such a good growing season as 2004 (Table 2). The economic optimum fertilizer N rates assuming fixed costs of $178/acre, a nitrogen fertilizer cost of $0.32 per pound and a forage value of $35 per ton (65% dry matter), were140lbs N/acre for the one-cut trial in Jefferson County and the 2-cut trialin St Lawrence County, <50 lbs N/acre per cut in Columbia (manured site)and inEssex County(first year crop following grass/alfalfaplowdown), 120 lbs N/acre per cut in Cayuga County, and 170 lbs N/acre per cutin Tompkins County (see Table 2 and Figure 2). However, returns per acre at optimum economic yield were very variable ($27, $82, $267, $259, $104, and $147/acre for Jefferson, St Lawrence, Columbia, Essex, Cayuga, Tompkins Counties, respectively). This does not include the expense of sod kill or manure application in the trials in Essex and ColumbiaCounty. Residual N levels (N left in the soil profile following the second cut) were of environmental concern with application rates greater than 150 lbs N/cut in the trials in Jefferson, St Lawrence and Columbia County (results not shown).Nitrogen uptake efficiencies at the optimum economic N rate were low in all trials except for the Essex and ColumbiaCounty trials. Uptake efficiencies steadily declined with N application beyond the economic optimum N rate for all trials except for the JeffersonCounty trial where there was no clear relationship between N uptake efficiency and N rate.

Table 2: Optimum economic N rates, return per acre and yield at the optimum economic N rate as well as reported corn yield potential† for 6 New York State sites.

Optimum economic N rate (OENR) / Return per acre
at OENR / Yield at OENR / Reported corn
yield potential
lbs N/acre per cut
(N uptake efficiency) / $/acre / tons/acre / tons/acre
Undrained/Drained
Jefferson / 141 (37%) / 27 / 7.2 / 17.9 / 20.4
St Lawrence / 139 (39%) / 82 / 10.0 / 18.7 / 21.3
Columbia / <50 (91%) / 267 / 13.8 / 17.9 / 17.9
Essex / <50 (60%) / 259 / 13.4 / 17.9 / 20.4
Cayuga / 122 (35%) / 104 / 10.3 / 23.0 / 23.8
Tompkins / 171 (50%) / 147 / 12.4 / 21.3 / 21.3

†Yields and yield potentials are given in 35% dry matter.

Figure 2: Optimum economic N rates for BMR sorghum sudangrass. The EssexCounty site followed plowdown of a legume containing sod. The JeffersonCounty site was one cut only (versus 2 cuts at the other sites). The data in the ColumbiaCounty site were too variable to fit a fertilizer response curve but clearly indicate a response to the manure application.

The forage N, P, K, Ca and Mg concentrations are listed in Table 3.Forage N content increased with N application. The lowest N concentrations in plants grown without additional N were seen in the Essex and JeffersonCounty trials. This may be related to the higher first cut yields for both trials (4.4 tons/acre in Jefferson Country and 6.1 ton/acre in EssexCounty).

Table 3: Nitrogen, P, K, Ca, and Mg concentrations as impacted by N fertilization rate in sixBMR sorghum sudangrass trials in New York (2004 season).

N applied
lbs N/acre
per cut / Nitrogen (% N)
Jefferson / St Lawrence / Columbia / Essex / Cayuga / Tompkins
1st / 2nd / 1st / 2nd / 1st / 2nd / 1st / 2nd / 1st / 2nd / 1st / 2nd
0 / . / . / 1.63 c / 1.35 d / 1.72 d / 1.31 c / 0.98 b / 1.26 b / 1.54 b / 1.41 c / 1.54 a / 1.59 d
0+M / . / . / . / . / 2.28 cd / 1.83 bc / . / . / . / . / . / .
37 / 0.91 bc / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 0.84 c / . / 1.97 bc / 1.53 cd / 2.89 bc / 2.21 b / 1.42 ab / 1.16 b / 1.64 b / 1.34 c / 1.42 a / 1.83 cd
100 / 0.89 bc / . / 1.81 bc / 1.90 bc / 3.40 ab / 3.03 a / 2.02 ab / 1.46 ab / 1.87 ab / 1.42 c / 1.78 a / 2.13 bc
150 / 1.39 b / . / 2.32 ab / 2.29 ab / 3.24 ab / 3.27 a / 2.05 ab / 1.57 a / 1.98 ab / 1.83 b / 2.15 a / 2.20 bc
200 / 1.99 a / . / 2.70 a / 2.51 a / 3.62 a / 3.32 a / 2.24 a / 1.60 a / 2.19 a / 1.87 b / 2.22 a / 2.50 ab
250 / 2.23 a / . / 2.72 a / 2.64 a / . / . / 1.92 ab / 1.74 a / 2.32 a / 2.26 a / 1.72 a / 2.81 a
Phosphorus (% P)
0 / . / . / 0.32 a / 0.43 a / 0.30 ab / 0.44 a / 0.26 a / 0.41 a / 0.30 a / 0.35 a / 0.40 a / 0.38 a
0+M / . / . / . / . / 0.33 a / 0.40 ab / . / . / . / . / . / .
37 / 0.19 a / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 0.16 ab / . / 0.32 a / 0.37 b / 0.30 ab / 0.38 b / 0.27 a / 0.30 b / 0.27 a / 0.29 b / 0.36 a / 0.36 ab
100 / 0.12 b / . / 0.29 a / 0.32 c / 0.27 ab / 0.35 b / 0.22 a / 0.24 b / 0.29 a / 0.25 bc / 0.33 a / 0.35 ab
150 / 0.14 b / . / 0.31 a / 0.30 c / 0.25 b / 0.35 b / 0.22 a / 0.23 b / 0.28 a / 0.24 bc / 0.34 a / 0.32 b
200 / 0.14 b / . / 0.29 a / 0.29 c / 0.28 ab / 0.37 b / 0.23 a / 0.20 b / 0.27 a / 0.24 c / 0.34 a / 0.32 b
250 / 0.14 b / . / 0.29 a / 0.29 c / . / . / 0.23 a / 0.24 b / 0.26 a / 0.24 c / 0.36 a / 0.31 b
Potassium (% K)
0 / . / . / 2.73 a / 1.76 a / 2.39 a / 1.87 ab / 2.12 a / 1.69 a / 2.83 a / 1.99 a / 2.92 a / 2.27 a
0+M / . / . / . / . / 2.93 a / 2.02 a / . / . / . / . / . / .
37 / 2.33 a / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 2.21 a / . / 2.50 a / 1.66 a / 3.01 a / 1.70 ab / 1.70 ab / 0.97 b / 2.59 a / 1.82 ab / 2.87 a / 2.29 a
100 / 2.07 a / . / 2.55 a / 1.56 a / 2.83 a / 1.38 b / 1.59 ab / 0.92 b / 2.75 a / 1.62 bc / 2.82 a / 2.27 a
150 / 1.98 a / . / 2.38 a / 1.54 a / 2.29 a / 1.64 ab / 1.42 ab / 0.93 b / 2.66 a / 1.54 c / 2.90 a / 1.96 a
200 / 1.80 a / . / 2.30 a / 1.63 a / 3.01 a / 1.67 ab / 1.58 ab / 0.91 b / 2.50 a / 1.53 c / 2.77 a / 2.08 a
250 / 2.19 a / . / 2.37 a / 1.62 a / . / . / 1.14 b / 0.81 b / 2.50 a / 1.57 c / 2.87 a / 2.39 a
Calcium (% K)
0 / . / . / 0.53 b / 0.57 a / 0.52 a / 0.52 b / 0.62 b / 0.62 a / 0.53 c / 0.49 b / 0.40 b / 0.34 a
0+M / . / . / . / . / 0.53 a / 0.53 b / . / . / . / . / . / .
37 / 0.41 a / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 0.41 a / . / 0.56 b / 0.63 a / 0.58 a / 0.57 ab / 0.76 ab / 0.66 a / 0.56 bc / 0.53 bc / 0.40 ab / 0.35 a
100 / 0.39 a / . / 0.54 b / 0.61 a / 0.60 a / 0.67 a / 0.81 a / 0.71 a / 0.58 abc / 0.56 abc / 0.42 ab / 0.37 a
150 / 0.40 a / . / 0.55 b / 0.61 a / 0.51 a / 0.68 a / 0.83 a / 0.70 a / 0.59 ab / 0.58 ab / 0.42 ab / 0.35 a
200 / 0.41 a / . / 0.60 ab / 0.60 a / 0.64 a / 0.66 ab / 0.83 a / 0.69 a / 0.61 ab / 0.59 ab / 0.48 a / 0.36 a
250 / 0.45 a / . / 0.64 a / 0.63 a / . / . / 0.86 a / 0.75 a / 0.62 a / 0.63 a / 0.40 ab / 0.38 a
Magnesium (% K)
0 / . / . / 0.36 c / 0.38 b / 0.52 b / 0.59 b / 0.32 a / 0.36 a / 0.31 c / 0.23 d / 0.21 a / 0.23 d
0+M / . / . / . / . / 0.58b / 0.65 b / . / . / . / . / . / .
37 / 0.20 a / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 0.20 a / . / 0.39 c / 0.47 a / 0.66 ab / 0.75 ab / 0.45 a / 0.47 a / 0.36 bc / 0.30 c / 0.21 a / 0.26 cd
100 / 0.20 a / . / 0.42 bc / 0.51 a / 0.64 ab / 0.91 a / 0.42 a / 0.41a / 0.38 ab / 0.33 bc / 0.24 a / 0.29 bc
150 / 0.22 a / . / 0.47 ab / 0.50 a / 0.59 ab / 0.95 a / 0.44 a / 0.38 a / 0.39 ab / 0.38 ab / 0.28 a / 0.31 abc
200 / 0.20 a / . / 0.48 ab / 0.47 a / 0.79 a / 0.95 a / 0.43 a / 0.37 a / 0.40 ab / 0.36 abc / 0.30 a / 0.33 ab
250 / 0.20 a / . / 0.50 a / 0.48 a / . / . / 0.46 a / 0.43 a / 0.42 a / 0.39 a / 0.24 a / 0.35 a

Note: Average values within columns with different letters (a, b, c) are statistically different (P≤0.05).

Table 4: Nitrogen, P, K, Ca, and Mg removal with harvest as impacted by N fertilization rate in sixbrown midrib sorghum sudangrass trials in New York (2004 season).

N applied per cut
lbs N/acre / Nutrient Removal with Harvest (1st and 2nd cut combined)
Nitrogen (lbs N/acre)
Jefferson / St Lawrence / Columbia / Essex / Cayuga / Tompkins
0 / . / 50 c / 69 d / 63 b / 52 d / 36 b
0+M / . / . / 188 c / . / . / .
37 / 27 c / . / .
50 / 30 bc / 91 b / 286 bc / 125 ab / 88 cd / 85 b
100 / 39 bc / 117 b / 320 b / 166 a / 112 bc / 148 a
150 / 70 ab / 169 a / 345 b / 173 a / 137 ab / 160 a
200 / 105 a / 177 a / 455 a / 183 a / 151 a / 204 a
250 / 95 a / 201 a / . / 165 a / 149 a / 198 a
Phosphorus (lbs P2O5/acre)
Jefferson / St Lawrence / Columbia / Essex / Cayuga / Tompkins
0 / . / 26.8 c / 34.5 b / 41.4 a / 24.5 b / 21.5 c
0+M / . / . / 70.6 a / . / . / .
37 / 13.3 a / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 13.1 a / 41.0 b / 81.4 a / 64.0 a / 36.8 ab / 43.4 b
100 / 12.3 a / 44.2 ab / 68.5 a / 51.0 a / 42.0 a / 59.5 a
150 / 15.4 a / 51.2 a / 69.7 a / 47.9 a / 42.7 a / 57.4 ab
200 / 17.0 a / 46.0 ab / 90.6 a / 47.5 a / 43.8 a / 64.5 a
250 / 14.2 a / 49.4 ab / . / 49.3 a / 37.9 a / 71.9 a
Potassium (lbs K2O/acre)
Jefferson / St Lawrence / Columbia / Essex / Cayuga / Tompkins
0 / . / 99.6 c / 126.1 c / 152.9 a / 119.4 b / 81.2 d
0+M / . / . / 297.9 ab / . / . / .
37 / 87.9 a / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 106.1 a / 138.7 bc / 358.5 ab / 169.6 a / 173.2 a / 177.3 c
100 / 117.4 a / 165.9 ab / 291 2 b / 159.6 a / 195.5 a / 252.5 b
150 / 127.5 a / 184.6 a / 286.9 b / 145.4 a / 195.7 a / 236.8 bc
200 / 122.1 a / 173.9 ab / 443.2 a / 151.2 a / 196.4 a / 268.9 ab
250 / 125.2 a / 192.2 a / . / 113.9 a / 179.0 a / 317.6 a
Magnesium (lbs Mg/acre)
Jefferson / St Lawrence / Columbia / Essex / Cayuga / Tompkins
0 / . / 11.8 c / 23.7 c / 20.0 a / 10.0 c / 5.1 d
0+M / . / . / 53.6 b / . / . / .
37 / 6.5 a / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 7.4 a / 22.9 b / 74.5 b / 44.7 a / 19.4 b / 12.0 c
100 / 8.8 a / 29.7 ab / 73.1 b / 39.7 a / 23.8 ab / 20.1 b
150 / 10.6 a / 35.7 a / 76.6 b / 39.2 a / 27.6 a / 22.0 ab
200 / 10.2 a / 32.5 a / 107.9 a / 38.6 a / 28.0 a / 27.1 a
250 / 8.7 a / 36.7 a / . / 40.8 a / 26.5 a / 25.9 ab
Calcium (lbs Ca/acre)
Jefferson / St Lawrence / Columbia / Essex / Cayuga / Tompkins
0 / . / 17.7 d / 22.7 c / 36.6 b / 17.7 c / 8.7 c
0+M / . / . / 47.1 b / . / . / .
37 / 12.8 a / . / . / . / . / .
50 / 15.3 a / 31.3 c / 62.0 ab / 68.3 a / 31.8 b / 19.6 b
100 / 17.0 a / 36.2 bc / 61.6 ab / 71.2 a / 38.5 ab / 29.7 ab
150 / 19.7 a / 42.9 ab / 61.1 ab / 72.3 a / 42.4 a / 28.9 ab
200 / 21.5 a / 40.7 ab / 82.8 a / 73.0 a / 44.3 a / 36.8 a
250 / 19.4 a / 47.0 a / . / 72.8 a / 40.7 ab / 36.4 a

Note: Average values within columns with different letters (a, b, c) are statistically different (P≤0.05).

Figure 3: Phosphorus and potassium removal as impacted by yield.

Table 5: Linear regression (nutrient removal = intercept + slope * yield) for phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium for sixNew York brown midrib sorghum sudangrass trials.

Intercept

/

Slope

/

Model R2

/

Model PF

Phosphorus (lbs P2O5/acre) removal with harvest (tons/acre 35% dry matter, 1st and 2nd cut combined)

Jefferson

/

2.85 (0.1574)

/

1.85 (<0.0001)

/

0.61

/

<0.0001

St Lawrence

/

10.13 (<0.0001)

/

3.79 (<0.0001)

/

0.93

/

<0.0001

Columbia

/

5.00 (0.3831)

/

4.73 (<0.0001)

/

0.86

/

<0.0001

Essex

/

5.15 (0.6346)

/

3.57 (0.0003)

/

0.43

/

0.0003

Cayuga

/

5.03 (0.0483)

/

3.71 (<0.0001)

/

0.90

/

<0.0001

Tompkins

/

4.88 (0.0695)

/

5.00 (<0.0001)

/

0.96

/

<0.0001

Potassium (lbs K2O/acre) removal with harvest (tons/acre 35% dry matter, 1st and 2nd cut combined)

Jefferson

/

22.74 (0.1337)

/

14.91 (<0.0001)

/

0.64

/

<0.0001

St Lawrence

/

24.21 (0.0043)

/

15.52 (<0.0001)

/

0.94

/

<0.0001

Columbia

/

-59.60 (0.1467)

/

26.51 (<0.0001)

/

0.80

/

<0.0001

Essex

/

-

/

-

/

-

/

0.2588

Cayuga

/

44.00 (0.0003)

/

14.93 (<0.001)

/

0.89

/

<0.0001

Tompkins

/

5.69 (0.6464)

/

22.52 (<0.001)

/

0.95

/

<0.0001

Calcium removal (lbs Ca/acre) with harvest (tons/acre 35% dry matter, 1st and 2nd cut combined)

Jefferson

/

1.01 (0.5686)

/

2.70 (<0.0001)

/

0.81

/

<0.0001

St Lawrence

/

-3.53 (0.0290)

/

4.54 (<0.0001)

/

0.97

/

<0.0001

Columbia

/

-8.10 (0.0486)

/

4.73 (<0.0001)

/

0.93

/

<0.0001

Essex

/

-17.65 (0.0332)

/

6.61 (<0.0001)

/

0.84

/

<0.0001

Cayuga

/

-3.37 (0.0826)

/

4.43 (<0.0001)

/

0.95

/

<0.0001

Tompkins

/

-2.30 (0.0947)

/

3.01 (<0.0001)

/

0.97

/

<0.0001

Magnesium removal (lbs Mg/acre) with harvest (tons/acre 35% dry matter, 1st and 2nd cut combined)

Jefferson

/

-0.10 (0.9213)

/

1.43 (<0.0001)

/

0.76

/

<0.0001

St Lawrence

/

-7.31 (<0.0001)

/

4.08 (<0.0001)

/

0.97

/

<0.0001

Columbia

/

-18.73 (0.0035)

/

6.40 (<0.0001)

/

0.92

/

<0.0001

Essex

/

-20.55 (0.0258)

/

4.58 (<0.0001)

/

0.66

/

<0.0001

Cayuga

/

-5.35 (0.0041)

/

3.14 (<0.0001)

/

0.93

/

<0.0001

Tompkins

/

-3.50 (0.0132)

/

2.29 (<0.0001)

/

0.95

/

<0.0001

Phosphorus concentrations ranged from less than 0.15% at the JeffersonCounty site to over 0.40% in the 2nd cut in ColumbiaCounty where over 80 lbs of P2O5 were added per acre in the form of manure (Table 3). Although sites differed in P uptake per unit yield, P uptake was linearly related to dry matter yield at all locations (Figure 3 and Table 4). The potassium content of 2nd cut forage at all sites was less than the 2.5% upper limit for feeding of forage to non-lactating cows (Table 3). First cuts were too high in K for non-lactating cows at all sites with the exception of the EssexCounty site. This was also the only site where K uptake was not linearly related to overall dry matter yield (Table 5). This was due to low K concentrations in the 2nd cut and may be because this site tested low in K and K was applied at planting only.

Conclusions

Optimum N rates ranged from less than 50 lbs N/acre per cut in the manured field in Columbia County and in the field with a recent sod history in Essex County, 120-140 lbs N/acre per cut for the three sites in Jefferson, St Lawrence and Cayuga County, to 170 lbs N/acre per cut at a site with no manure or sod history in Tompkins County.Nutrient removal was linearly related to dry matter yields and not impacted by N application rate as long as a minimal amount of N was added (50 lbs/acre per cut or greater). However, results were very site-specific indicating that for accurate crop removal estimates, dry matter yields need to be determined and forage analyses need to be done. The results of these 6 trials need to be combined with our previous work to be able to draw conclusions across a wider number of years.

References

  1. Ketterings, Q.M., G. Godwin, J.H. Cherney, S. Beer, and T.F. Kilcer (2004). Nitrogen management for brown midrib sorghum sudangrass. Results of two years of studies at the Mt Pleasant Research Farm. "What's Cropping Up?" 14(2): 5-6.
  2. Kilcer, T.F., Q.M. Ketterings, T.W. Katsvairo and J.H. Cherney (2002). Nitrogen management for sorghum sudangrass: how to optimize N uptake efficiency? "What's Cropping Up?" 12(5): 6-9.
  3. National Research Council (2001). Nutrient requirements of dairy cattle. 7th edition. National Research Council. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 408 pages.

Acknowledgments andfor Further Information

This research was funded with grants from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP), the Northeast Region Potash and Phosphate Institute, and Garrison & Townsend Inc. Ammonium sulfate was donated by Honeywell Inc. and seed was supplied by Agriculver.For further information contact Thomas Kilcer at the RensselaerCounty Cooperative Extension Office at or 518-272-4210 or Quirine Ketterings at CornellUniversity ( or 607-255-3061). You could also visit the Nutrient Management Spear Program website at or the Rensselaer County Cornell Cooperative Extension agriculture website at:

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Q.M. Ketterings, G. Godwin, T.F. Kilcer, P. Barney, M. Hunter, J.H. Cherney, and S. Beer and (2005). What’s Cropping Up? 15(4): x-xx.

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