NUTRIENT CHARACTERIZATION OF STORED LIQUID HOG MANURE

Liquid swine manure from eight Prince Edward Island concrete storage f acilities was sampled at three depths in the fall of 1992. Samples wer e analysed for dry matter (DM), NH4+-N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Cu, Zn, Mn, F e, and B. Dry matter content and most nutrient concentrations declined as sampling depth increased except K and B which had the highest conc entration at the mid depth. Samples taken from the mid depth generally represented the average manure nutrient concentrations in the storage . There were significant differences between farms on a volume basis f or all parameters except P, Mg, Zn, Mn, and Fe and on a DM basis excep t for NH4+-N, Mg, and Mn. High manure Cu concentrations on some farms suggests that Cu toxicity problems could occur over time with high ann ual application rates on low pH soils. A regression analysis of the nu trient concentrations against DM indicated that P, Ca, Mg, S, Mn, and Fe could be predicted if DM content were known but DM content was not helpful in predicting NH4+-N, Zn, K, B, or Cu.