Abstract
Agriculture makes a significant contribution to the diffuse source contamination of surface and groundwater resources, particularly contributing to the NO -3 contamination of groundwater. Two approaches were adopted to evaluate management practices (within the context of the whole farming system) for their impacts on the environment : (1) measurement of the quality of groundwater under different farming systems, and (2) comparison of predictions of the impact of farming systems on water quality, obtained using whole farm N budgets, with measured values.
The Ontario Farm Groundwater Quality Survey evaluated the rural groundwater quality in Ontario, with respect to common contaminants including NO -3 . Approximately 1300 domestic farm wells were sampled, and wells were drilled in some fields of farms involved in the study. NO -3 was present at concentrations above the maximum acceptable for drinking water (10 mg N 1−1) in 14% of wells, including 7% of wells that also had unacceptable concentrations of coliform bacteria. Significant levels of NO -3 contamination were observed under most agricultural land use practices investigated.
Calculation of N budgets was simplified by assuming that there was no net change in the N content of farm assets. The N inputs to agricultural systems considered were: purchases from off-farm suppliers, N2 fixation and atmospheric deposition. Symbiotic N2 fixation was estimated from empirical relationships between crop yield and N2 fixed. The N outputs were in sales of plant and animal produce, gaseous and leaching losses. Gaseous loss was assumed to result only from volatilization of ammonia, estimated to be 39% of total manure N.
We have identified one cash crop farming system where there was a true balance. The rotation included corn soybeans and wheat, with two years of soybean always being grown before corn. Many livestock farms, including two organic farms, gave large imbalances of N which might indicate that these operations were not in equilibrium.
The relationship between measured and predicted values of NO -3 -N expected in the groundwater under the different management systems showed that the simplified N budget overestimated the NO -3 -N concentration by about one third. However, the budget approach appeared to identify farms where contamination was likely even if the actual amount was over estimated. Simplified budgets could therefore be used to compare the potential of different farming systems for causing environmental contamination.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Addiscott TM, Whitmore AP an Powlson DS (1991) Farming, Fertilizers and the Nitrate Problem. CAB International, UK
Barry DAJ, Goorahoo D and Goss MJ (1993) Estimation of nitrate concentrations in groundwater using a whole farm nitrogen budget. J Environ Qual 22(4): 767–775
Beauchamp EG and Burton DL (1985) Ammonia losses from manures. Ontario Ministry Agric. Food Factsheet. Agdex 538. Order no 85-071. Toronto, ON, Canada
Beauchamp EG, Kidd GE and Thurtell G (1982) Ammonia volatilization from liquid dairy cattle manure in the field. Can J Soil Sci 62: 11–19
Brown DM (1985) Heat units for corn in southern Ontario. Ontario Ministry Agric. Food Factsheet. Agdex no. 111/31. Toronto, ON, Canada
Byrnes BH (1990) Environmental Effects of N Fertilizer Use- An Overview. Fert Res 26: 209–215
Deibert EJ, Bijeriego M and Olson JA (1979) Utilization of15N fertilizer by nodulating and non- nodulating soybean isolines. Agron J 71: 717–723
Ensminger ME and Olentine CG (1978) Feeds and Nutrition - Complete, 1st ed. The Ensminger Publishing Company, USA
Fraser H (1985) Manure Characteristics. Ontario Ministry Agric. Food Factsheet. Agdex 538. Order no 85-109. Toronto, ON, Canada
Fried M, Tanji KK and Van de Pol RM (1976) Simplified long term concept for evaluating leaching of nitrogen from agricultural land. J Environ Qual 3: 391–396
Follett RF and Walker DJ (1989) Ground water quality concerns about nitrogen. In: Follett RF (ed) Nitrogen Management and Ground Water Protection, Ch 1. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Goorahoo D (1993) The use of whole farm nitrogen budgets to estimate nitrate concentrations in groundwater for three organic farms in Bruce County. M.Sc. thesis, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada. 345p
Gordon R, Leclerc M, Schuepp P and Brunke R (1988) Field estimates of ammonia volatilization from swine manure by a simple micrometeorological technique. Can J Soil Sci 68: 369–380
Goss MJ, Barry DAJ and Goorahoo D (1993) Evaluating nitrogen budgets for assessment of the effectiveness of farming systems in limiting nitrate contamination of groundwater. Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality Conference Proceedings-February 21–24, 1993. pp 233-235. Conference sponsored by Soil and Water Conservation Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Juergens-Gschwind S (1989) Ground water nitrates in other developed countries (Europe) relationships to land use patterns. In: Follett RF (ed) Nitrogen Management and Ground Water Protection, pp 75–138. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Kirchmann H (1985) Nitrogen balance studies in cattle manure during the biological decomposition in composts. Acta Agric Scan, Suppl 24, Ch. 3
Lauer DA, Bouldin DR and Klausner SD (1976) Ammonia volatilization from dairy manure spread on the soil surface. J Environ Qual 5: 134–141
McBride G (1987) Average composition of Ontario feeds by region (5 year summary). Ontario Ministry Agric. Food. Information for industry personnel. Agdex no. 400/60. Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
Pain BF, Phillips VR, Clarkson CR and Klarenbeek JV (1989) Loss of nitrogen through ammonia volatilization during and following the application of pig or cattle slurry to grassland. J Sci Food Agric 47: 1–12
Power JF and Schepers JS (1989) Nitrate contamination of groundwater in North.America. Agric Ecosys Environ 26: 165–187
Ravuri V (1992) Soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) dinitrogen fixation and residual nitrogen effects on following corn (Zea mays L.) crops. Ph.D thesis. Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
Rudolph D and Goss MJ (1993) Ontario farm groundwater quality survey. Summer 1992. Report prepared for Agriculture Canada under the Federal-Provincial Environmental Sustainability Initiative, 1992
Ro CU, Tang AJS, Chan WS, Kirk RW, Reid NW and Lusis MA (1988) Wet and dry deposition of sulphur and nitrogen compounds in Ontario. Atmos Environ 22: 2763–2772
Schjoerring JK, Sommer SG and Ferm M (1992) A simple passive sampler for measuring ammonia emission in the field. Water Air Soil Pollut 62: 13–24
Tel DA and Heseltine C (1990) The analysis of KCL soil extracts for nitrate, nitrite and ammonium using a TRAACS 800 analyzer. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 21: 1681–1688
Tel DA and Goorahoo D (1993) Ammonium determination in oxalic acid sorbent using a TRAACS 800 autoanalyzer. Method presented at the International Symposium on Soil Testing and Plant Analysis: Precision Nutrient Management. August 14–19, 1993, Olympia, Washington. Paper in preparation for publication in Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal
Thompson RB, Pain BF and Lockyer DR (1990) Ammonia volatilization from cattle slurry following surface application to grassland. II Influence of application rate, windspeed, and applying slurry in narrow bands. Plant Soil 125: 119–128
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Goss, M.J., Goorahoo, D. Nitrate contamination of groundwater: Measurement and prediction. Fertilizer Research 42, 331–338 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00750525
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00750525