Nitrate leaching and slurry application in dairy grasslands

Broadcast application of cattle slurry to grassland soils is a natural means of fertilisation. However this practice is actually not optimised and leads to nitrogen loss to the atmosphere and groundwater. Novel application techniques such as injection into the soil are therefore tested. Kayser et al. found that the type of application technique has no effect on nitrate leaching. Whereas the amount of applied slurry has an effect on nitrate leaching.