An important number of Canadian dairy farms manage their manure as solids and in doing so, must handle large volumes of manure seepages and milk house wastewater (dairy farm effluent-DFE). The present project adapted surface irrigation as a more economical and sustainable method of disposing of this large volume of DFE on cropped land near their storage facility. The experimental surface irrigation system consisted of a gated pipe installed perpendicular to the slope of the field allowing the discharged DFE to run down the slope. / The adaptation of the system and the measurement of its environmental impact were conducted on two dairy farms, A and B, in the region South West of Montreal where their DFE were characterized. In 2003 and 2004, DFE was applied on one of two 0.5 and 0.3ha plots, on each farm, to observe losses through the subsurface drainage system, by means of sampling wells, and effects on soil nutrient levels. / The DFE collected in 2002 and 2003 had a lower nutrient content than that collected in 2004 because of higher precipitations. The DFE generally contained between 150-500 mg/L of TKN, 15 to 40 mg/L of TP and 500 to 700 mg/L of TK. / DFE losses through the subsurface drainage system were observed on both farms during each irrigation test. Nevertheless, outlet losses were observed only when irrigating under wet soil conditions or when applying more than 50mm of DFE. Outlet losses represented at the most 1.2% of the total DFE volume applied and 0.32% of the nutrient and bacterial loads. / Although only 65 to 75% of the soil surface was covered by the applied DFE, the irrigation sessions did provide some additional soil moisture for crops, increasing yield by 31% in 2004. Once absorbed by the soil, the applied DFE did not increase the soil nutrient level and variability in the presence of crop. Thus, the DFE contributed to the irrigation and fertilization of the plots. / Surface irrigation to spread low nutrient DFE, as compared to the conventional tanker system reduced the application costs from $3.05/m3, to $0.95/m3.

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Many producers in North America are finding it profitable to make the transition from conventional farming to organic agriculture. Organic fertilisers may affect crop production and soil quality differently than inorganic fertilisers. The objectives of this study conducted in Ste.-Anne-de-Bellevue. Quebec were to examine crop yield, grain quality, soil fertility and microbial community parameters in wheat and corn agroecosystems receiving poultry manure or inorganic fertiliser. Wheat grain yield declined and corn grain yield did not increase with higher N rates, suggesting that increased N supply did not encourage grain production. Soil analyses demonstrated high inherent soil fertility at the study site, and fertilisation led to an environmentally undesirable increase in residual soil NO3 concentrations. Microbial biomass and respiration in corn agroecosystems were greater with poultry manure amendments than inorganic fertiliser, but not in wheat agroecosystems due to significant variation among field replicates. Phospholipid fatty acid analysis revealed significant differences between wheat and corn soil microbial community composition, but differences due to fertilisation were less evident. Further work is needed to uncover the relationships among N fertilisation, crop nutrition and soil microbiology in organic agroecosystems.

Manure and underseeded clover are sustainable N sources for spring wheat on gleysolic soils of the St. Lawrence lowlands. Farmers rely on little information to manage adequately, these alternatives to fertilizer N. This study documents in spring wheat red (Triticum aestivum L. cv Algot) (i) the agronomic value of (Trifolium pratense L. cv Arlington); (ii) the impacts of application time and underseeded clover an manure N recovery; (iii) the residual NO3-- in the soil profile that constitutes a potential risk of N transfer from soil to air and water associated to clover alone or combined with manures and, (iv) the use of a plant N availability index. A four year field experiment was established an a St. Urbain clay (Orthic Humic Gleysol) at St. Bruno de Montarville (45°33'N; 73°21'W) in 1993. Ammonium nitrate at 0 to 160 kg N ha--1, swine liquid manure (SLM) and dairy solid manure (DSM) were used either alone or in combination with clover ploughed down in fall as green manure. Manures were applied at pre-seeding, in post-emergence or after harvest. The impact of clover on wheat yield was related solely to an improved N nutrition. Clover supplied fertilizer N equivalents of approximately 30 kg ha --1 to the succeeding wheat crop. Clover combined with manures increased available N in the soil profile so that estimated recovery of manures N was strongly reduced in 1995. Apparent N recovery of SLM was higher than for DSM with values of 5% and 17% in 1994 and 1995 compared to 2 and 4% for DSM. Application time did not significantly affect manure N recovery. Limited risk of N transfer to water and air was associated with post-harvest manure application and underseeded red clover because those practices increased soil profile NO3-- in fall and the end of April. Fluxes of N estimated by NH4+ and NO3 -- sorbed in situ on ionic exchange membranes (IEMs) provided better monitoring of N released by added organic N sources than N extracted by 2M KCl and also were bette

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