White clover or nitrogen fertiliser for dairying under nitrate leaching limits?
David Chapman A D , Ina Pinxterhuis A , Stewart Ledgard B and Tony Parsons C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A DairyNZ, c/- PO Box 85066, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
B AgResearch Ruakura, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
C Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
D Corresponding author. Email: David.Chapman@dairynz.co.nz
Animal Production Science 60(1) 78-83 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN18577
Submitted: 11 September 2018 Accepted: 1 December 2018 Published: 20 December 2018
Abstract
As the pressure intensifies to reduce nitrogen (N) losses to the environment from pasture-based dairy systems, interest in reducing N-fertiliser inputs and returning to grass–clover mixtures, where more N for pasture growth is supplied by biological N fixation (BNF), have been revived. However, the following question then arises: is BNF fundamentally different from fertiliser N with respect to N losses, especially nitrate-N leaching risk? The present paper addresses this question by reviewing empirical evidence in the context of N-cycling processes and the efficiency of N use for herbage production. Nitrate leaching data from studies comparing different sward treatments at the same level of total N inputs (fertiliser plus BNF) provide no evidence to suggest that leaching differs when N is supplied solely by fixation in mixtures, by fixation plus fertiliser in mixtures, or solely as a fertiliser to grass monoculture. Increasing clover content in mixed grass–clover pastures is likely to increase N leaching due to a lower ratio of soluble sugar and starch to N in herbage than the common companion grass species perennial ryegrass, and, therefore, a higher partitioning of N eaten to urine. Counteracting this effect, mixed grass–clover pastures may offer some potential for increasing N-use efficiency and reducing the whole-farm N surplus compared with grass-dominant pasture receiving high rates of N fertiliser. While there are undeniable benefits for the productivity of dairy systems from maintaining strong grass–clover mixtures, it is the total amount of N entering the system, rather than the form of N (BNF or fertiliser), that influences nitrate leaching rates.
Additional keywords: biological N fixation, dairy systems, grass–clover interactions.
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