Effect of application timing and grass height on the nitrogen fertilizer replacement value of cattle slurry applied with a trailing-shoe application system

This study investigated the effect of using a trailing-shoe system to apply cattle slurry, under different conditions of grass height (low [LG]: freshly cut sward [4-5 cm height] vs. high [HG]: application delayed by 7-19 d and applied to taller grass sward [4-11 cm] height) and month of application (June vs. April), on the nitrogen fertilizer replacement value (NFRV) and apparent N recovery (ANRS) of cattle slurry applied to grassland. NFRV was calculated using two methods: (i) NFRVN based on the apparent recovery of slurry-N relative to that of mineral-N fertilizer; and (ii) NFRVDM based on DM yield. The effect of applying slurry into HG swards, relative to LG swards, decreased the DM yield by 0.47 t ha(-1) (P <= 0.001), N uptake by 5 kg ha(-1) (P = 0.05), ANRS by 0.05 kg kg(-1) (P = 0.036), NFRVN by 0.05 kg kg(-1) (P = 0.090) and NFRVDM by 0.11 kg kg(-1) (P < 0.001). It was concluded that the main factor causing these decreases with HG, compared with LG applications, was wheel damage affecting subsequent N uptake and growth of the taller grass sward.