Agronomic performance of barley cultivars in response to varying rates of swine slurry

Abstract

Selection of crop variety may address concerns of potential adverse effects of preplant manure slurry application on crop yield and quality due to nutrient availability and lack of precision in application rate. An experiment was conducted in two field locations in southern Manitoba to assess the impact of slurry rate on growth, yield and quality of three barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars (Harrington, Rosser, Stander). Treatments included three rates of swine slurry, an unfertilized check and an inorganic fertilizer treatment at the recommended N rate based on preseeding soil nutrient tests. While the current study demonstrated no significant difference in the grain yield response of barley cultivars to rates of slurry application, higher rates of swine slurry may have a negative effect on milling quality (percentage of plump kernels) depending on cultivar, but had little effect on other quality parameters such as test weight and 1000-kernel weight. The absence of cultivar × slurry interaction for grain and biomass yield at each field location in each year indicated that all cultivars responded similarly to increasing rates of manure slurry for these traits. Grain protein concentration for all cultivars was unaffected by slurry amendment except at the highest application rate.