ARS | Publication request: SOIL AND NUTRIENT EROSION RISK IN ORGANIC AND CONVENTIONAL CROPPING SYSTEMS

Submitted to: World Congress of Soil Science
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: July 9, 2006
Publication Date: July 15, 2006
Citation: Green, V.S., Cavigelli, M.A., Dao, T.H., Flanagan, D.C. 2006. Soil and nutrient erosion risk in organic and conventional cropping systems. World Congress of Soil Science, July 9-15, 2006, Philadelphia, PA, No. 59-5 [CD-ROM].

Technical Abstract: Organic farming, which is growing in popularity, has been proposed as a sustainable alternative to conventional farming practices. However, it is not known how organic farming systems affect soil erosion risk and sediment-bound nutrient transport. Our objectives were to compare soil erosion risk and sediment bound nutrient transport potential for grain based conventional and organic cropping systems by determining selected soil physical properties and distributions of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in soil aggregates of the 0¿5 cm depth of a Christiana-Matapeake-Keyport soil association (silt loam Hapludults) located at the Beltsville Farming Systems Project in western Maryland, USA. We measured soil bulk density, aggregate stability, aggregate size distributions, and total C, N, and P of the bulk soil as well as total C, N, and P associated with five soil aggregate size classes in conventional no-till (NT) and chisel till (CT) systems and in an organic tilled system (ORG). The plots had been in a corn, soybean, wheat rotation for 8 years at the time of sampling. No-till soils had lesser bulk density and greater aggregate stability than did CT and ORG soils. Carbon, N, and P concentrations were greater in large (>2.00 mm) and small macroaggregates (0.21 to 2.00 mm) than in microaggregates (<0.21 mm) regardless of cropping system. When nutrient concentrations were combined with aggregate distribution data, the quantity of aggregate associated nutrients was greatest in microaggregates in ORG and CT soils but greatest in macroaggregates in NT soils. These results indicate an increased risk of sediment associated nutrient transport from ORG and CT soils compared with NT soils, since microaggregates in these soils are preferentially lost through sediment transport. Using the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model, however, risk of sediment associated nutrient transport was in the order NT