The influence of cutting and grazing on phosphorus and nitrogen in irrigation runoff from perennial pasture

Abstract

Runoff from flood-irrigated perennial pastures generally contains higher phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) concentrations than the irrigation water applied to the pastures. We examined the sources of P and N that could contribute to these elevated nutrient concentrations in runoff.

The first experiment compared P and N losses in runoff from pasture cut to different residual pasture masses. Flow-weighted P and N concentrations and loads were about 100% higher from pasture cut to 47 mm above ground than from pasture standing at 155 mm. These results indicated that severely defoliated pasture may be a significant source of nutrients when flood irrigated.

In the second experiment, pastures were defoliated at a single grazing with different stocking intensities and the flow-weighted P and N concentrations in runoff were determined during 4 successive flood irrigation events. Nitrogen and P concentrations in runoff after the first irrigation following defoliation were higher at the highest stocking intensity. However, the effect of the grazing on nutrient concentrations in runoff declined in subsequent irrigation events. A regression model fitted to the P data indicated that there was a significant linear increase in P concentrations with stocking density and a significant non-linear decline in concentrations with successive irrigations. A similar relationship for TKN concentrations in runoff at each stocking density over the 4 irrigation events was not found. An inconsistency of the TKN concentrations of the supply water between irrigation events possibly helped to mask a similar relationship between N concentrations in runoff and stocking density over the 4 irrigation events. We postulate that both animal excreta and the pasture itself can contribute to elevated nutrient concentrations in flood-irrigation runoff.