Saturday, 15 July 2006
158-26

Excess Phosphorus Loading in Soils Receiving Swine Waste Inputs.

Paul Smithson, Berea College, CPO 2064, 201 Science Bldg, Berea, KY 40404

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) represent an intensification of production that often leads to negative off-site effects. Berea College in east central Kentucky, USA, operates an educational farm, including a small swine production facility modeled after current industrial farming practices. Waste from the swine house is regularly flushed out into two treatment lagoons. The lower lagoon occasionally overflows during heavy rains, and may be a source of excess nutrient and bacterial inputs to a nearby stock watering pond, which has had recurring water quality problems. In a preliminary study in 2004, we measured soil phosphorus (Mehlich-III) levels downslope from the lagoon. We sampled the top 5 cm of surface soils from over 100 georeferenced locations in the watershed draining the waste lagoon, and an adjacent “control” watershed that received no overflow from the lagoon. We analyzed the samples for available phosphorus and merged the data with the spatial location data. Using ArcView GIS software, we overlaid the soil data on topographic and soil maps of the study area to produce a contour map of nutrient-enriched zones. We found evidence of substantial nutrient movement toward the pond from the waste lagoon, confirming in part the concerns about water quality in the pond. College farm managers used these preliminary results to justify investments in equipment allowing improved waste management practices. A long-term monitoring study is being undertaken to track decreases in soil P loading in the affected watershed, and to follow possible nutrient buildup in the new waste application area outside the pond's watershed. Results from both the initial and ongoing studies will be presented.

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