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Urine patch area coverage of an intensively stocked dairy pasture
Urine patch area coverage of an intensively stocked dairy pasture
Moir, James L. ; Cameron, Keith C. ; Di, Hong J. ; Fertsak, Ulrike
Moir, James L.
Cameron, Keith C.
Di, Hong J.
Fertsak, Ulrike
Date
2010-08
Type
Conference Contribution - published
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Fields of Research
ANZSRC::0703 Crop and Pasture Production , ANZSRC::0701 Agriculture, Land and Farm Management
Abstract
The urine patch of the grazing cow has been identified as the key source of N loss from pasture-based dairy
systems. Although critical to N modelling, quantitative data on the annual area coverage of urine patches in
pastures is scarce. A new technique using survey-grade global positioning system (GPS) technology was
developed to measure the paddock area coverage of dairy cattle urine and dung patches. A four year study
was conducted on an intensively stocked (4.3 cows/ha) dairy farm in Canterbury, New Zealand. Twelve field
plots on typical grazed pasture were monitored over a four year period, sampling at 12 week intervals. Urine
and dung deposits within the plots were visually identified, the pasture response area (radius) measured and
position marked with survey-grade GPS. Spatial geographic information system (GIS) software was used to
analyse the data. The mean urine patch pasture response area was 0.35 m². It was calculated that the mean
area covered by urine patches on an annual basis was 23.1 ± 2.2 % for the given stocking density and grazing
management regime.
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© 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World. Archived with publisher permission.