Soil Regulations and Their Practical Impact on the Daily Work of a German Farmer. Dr. Christian Ahl

Transcription

1 Soil Regulations and Their Practical Impact on the Daily Work of a German Farmer Dr. Christian Ahl cahl@gwdg.de

2 Harry Ferguson Soil Regulations 2

3 Main Topics => Fertilizer Application Ordinance (Federal Regulation) => Good Agricultural Practice (Federal Soil Protection Act) 1. Fertilizer Strategic Planning & Supply 2. Organic Manure Application 3. Soil Compaction 4. Soil Organic Matter SOM 5. Nutrient Balances Soil Regulations 3

4 1. Fertilizer Strategic Planning Fertilizer requirement and input 1. Winter Wheat long term yield expections 2. organic manure last year 3. N min soil testing January 4. N additional supply from the soil expected in the course of the year 5. N additional supply from cover crops 6.? Fertilizer Demand? 7. Yield expections: 90 dt/ha roughly 134 bushels/acre kg N/ha at 80 dt/ha => 208 lb/acre 9. Additional 10 kg N/ha [8 lb/acre] for 10 dt/ha surplus yield 10. digestate slurry in 2014 N t = 180 kg N / ha [163 lb / acre] 10 % => 16 lb / acre 11. N min soil testing 65 kg N / ha = 59 lb / acre Experimental Farm Univ. Göttingen Stagno-Gleyic Luvisols (FAO) Haplic or Typic Glossudalfs (SoilTax) plant demand add. N high yield organic manure soil N min soil N add. supply N-dosage kg/ha = 112 lb/acre = 101 January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 4

5 Fertilizer Supply nitrogen nitrogen nitrogen N-dosage: 112 kg/ha equiv. to 101 lb/acre 1. Mineral Fertilizer 2. Organic Fertilizer 1. slurries 2. digestate manure 3. poultry droppings 1. Best practice: spreading due to demand according to soil quality and N-uptake by plants 2. Best practice: minimize the ammonia votalization maximize the incorporation of liquids in the soil January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 5

6 Example: N sensor technology Soil Regulations 6

7 Example: Liquid manure injection with liquid manure slit technology or trail-shoe trail - hose Soil Regulations 7

8 2. Organic Manure Application maximum of 170 kg N/ha (154 lb-n/acre) in total roughly 50 % are accountable and plant available in the first year but 100 % are allocatable for the N-balance! Soil Regulations 8

9 2. Organic Manure Application Regulations & Background European Nitrate Directive! Nitrate Vulnerable Zones intensive livestock regions surplus in nitrogen (and phosphate) still increasing or stagnant nitrate values in the groundwater no matching of spreading liquid manures and plant demand eutrophication of waterbodies qualified verification of farmland to spread the slurry, to reduce N and P surplus appr. 250 acre max. of fattened pig places appr. 97 kg-n/ha (88lb/acre) blocking period for slurry from harvest to 31 st of January bufferzones, snowcover, frozen soil, water saturated soil, etc Soil Regulations 9

10 3. Soil Compaction grain harvest 1. decreasing time slots 2. larger fields 3. regional harvesting contractors 4. efficient transport systems 5. time is money philosophy 1. altered state of rain periods 2. increased average size of farms 3. higher harvesting clout 4. up to 60 metric tons per hour 5. night and day harvest only dew and rain will stop them! and the soil? January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 10

11 3. Soil Compaction - grain harvest s scythe and manual labor s reaper-binder s reaper-binder s combine harvester s combine harvester Soil Regulations 11

12 3. Soil Compaction grain harvest Soil Regulations 12

13 3. Soil Compaction - grain harvest Contact Area Pressure total load Contact area pressure allocation of pressure distinct tire pressure on the field distinct tire pressure on the street less compaction total load broadly based load transfer of pressure to subsurface violation of regulations but not justiciable for trial in a court January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 13

14 3. Soil Compaction - grain harvest Contact Area Pressure total load 38 metric tons load crawler chassis 1,2 bar [17.4 psi] pressure rear axis 2,5 bar [36.3 psi] Soil Regulations 14

15 3. Soil Compaction - solutions classes of vulnerability due to compaction soil moisture surface soil subsurface soil consolidation pressure Schjønning et al Soil Regulations 15

16 3. Soil Compaction - solutions reduced load less wheel-to-wheel passages less heavy harvesting equipment (or less load) support natural soil-structure formation management practices (tillage system) covercrops with root systems deep into the soil using big data sets for the decision go no- go onto the field! Schjønning et al Soil Regulations 16

17 4. Soil Organic Matter Background decoupling of payments from production etc. 2. acreage as baseline 3. production methods 4. environmental harmful production 5. animal welfare 6. food safety 7. => CROSS COMPLIANCE January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 17

18 4. Soil Organic Matter Background => 2004 Direct Payment Ordinance as Single Payment Scheme => soil organic matter balance model January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 18

19 4. Soil Organic Matter Balancing sandy soils < 13 % clay SOM > 1 % loamy soils > 13 % clay SOM > 1,5 % Balance: not less than minus 75 kg SOM-C/ha*yr => minus 68 lb/acre*yr January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 19

20 SOM Balance = SOM required + (SOM plant residues + SOM organic manure ) crop kg SOM-C / ha required lb SOM-C/acre required sugar beet potatoes cereals Organic manure kg SOM-C / t lb SOM-C / t straw FYM slurry 4 9 January February March April May June July August September October November December Soil Regulations 20

21 5. Nutrient Balancing in: mineral fertilizer orgnic fertilizer N legume etc. in out out: harvest main products side products Nitrogen not more than 60 kg/ha*yr A in the 3 last years = 45 lb/acre Phosphorous not more than 9 kg/ha*yr in the 6 last years = 8 lb/acre A = 2018: 50 kg/ha 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th year Soil Regulations 21

22 Summary Nutrients according to site and crop maintenance of soil health preserving waterbodies EU policy since 2014: greening cross compliance payments linked to environmental action programmes Soil Regulations 22

23 Thanks a lot for your attention! Soil Regulations 23