Nitrogen Fertilizer Replacement Value of the Liquid Fraction of Separated Livestock Slurries Applied to Potatoes and Silage Maize

Separation of livestock slurries followed by reverse osmosis yields mineral concentrates (MCs) in which almost all nitrogen (N) is ammonium (NH4)-N. The ability of MCs to substitute calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), a common conventional mineral N fertilizer, was tested in two trials on a silty loam soil (ware potatoes, 2009 and 2010) and four trials on sandy soils (starch potatoes, 2009 and 2010; silage maize in 2010 and 2011). The N fertilizer replacement value (NFRV) of spring-injected MCs ranged from 72 to 84%, slightly less than their share of ammonium-N (90–100%). The fate of N that was apparently unavailable to crops was not fully disclosed, but there were indications that ammonia loss may have played a role.