ABSTRACT About 7 million beef cattle are raised annually in the Texas High Plains, producing 16 million Mg of manure, which is land-applied as raw manure (RM) to crops. An interest in aerobic composting prompted a 2-year field study with the primary objective of evaluating corn (Zea mays L.) yield and soil fertility for RM as compared to composted manure (CM). The four treatments (TRT) consisted of low-rate composted manure (CM-L), high-rate composted manure (CM-H), RM, and inorganic fertilizer (IN). All four TRT received equal plant—available N by supplementing the RM and CM with IN. Yield was measured by both machine-harvesting and hand-harvesting methods. Machine-harvested yield was similar among TRT for both years. Hand-harvested yield was lower for IN than RM in the first year, with similar yields among TRT in the second year. Due to drought, yields were considerably lower in the second year for all TRT. After 2 years, CM-H had higher soil P, K, Zn, and organic carbon concentrations than IN, with no differences among TRT for soil NO3-N, pH, or electrical conductivity. Both CM and RM provided beneficial nutrients for corn production and improving soil fertility. Land application of CM and RM provides long-term benefits to soil health and sustainability in the Texas High Plains region.

中文翻译：

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玉米产量和土壤肥力，结合使用生牛粪或堆肥牛粪和无机肥料在德克萨斯北部高平原

摘要德克萨斯州高平原每年饲养约 700 万头肉牛，产生 1600 万毫克的粪便，这些粪便在土地上用作作物的生粪便 (RM)。对好氧堆肥的兴趣促使进行了为期 2 年的田间研究，主要目标是评估 RM 与堆肥 (CM) 的玉米 (Zea mays L.) 产量和土壤肥力。四种处理（TRT）由低速堆肥（CM-L）、高速堆肥（CM-H）、RM和无机肥（IN）组成。通过用 IN 补充 RM 和 CM，所有四个 TRT 都获得了相同的植物——可用 N。通过机器收获和手工收获方法测量产量。两年间，TRT 的机器收获产量相似。第一年手工收获的 IN 产量低于 RM，第二年 TRT 的产量相似。由于干旱，第二年所有 TRT 的产量都大大降低。2 年后，CM-H 的土壤 P、K、Zn 和有机碳浓度高于 IN，土壤 NO3-N、pH 或电导率的 TRT 之间没有差异。CM 和 RM 都为玉米生产和提高土壤肥力提供了有益的养分。CM 和 RM 的土地应用为德克萨斯高平原地区的土壤健康和可持续性提供了长期利益。