Jj. Drewry et al., Effect of simulated dairy cow treading on soil physical properties and ryegrass pasture yield, NZ J AGR RE, 44(2-3), 2001, pp. 181-190
The effects of simulated dairy cow treading on soil physical properties and
perennial ryegrass pasture yield were studied in the field, on a Wakanui s
ilt loam in Canterbury, New Zealand. The study minimised pugging damage com
mon wit, h grazing, to investigate effects of treading and soil compaction
on yield and soil physical properties. Pasture yield was decreased by up to
14% for individual harvests, while the total yield for all harvests was de
creased by 9%, for the heavily treaded treatments. Treading reduced macropo
rosity (the volumetric percentage of pores > 30 mum diameter) at 0-5 cm, in
summer, from 20.5% (v/v) in the control to 10.7% in the heavily treaded tr
eatments. In winter, macroporosity at 10-15 cm was reduced from 8.5% in the
control to 6.1% in the heavily treaded treatments. Similar trends for bulk
density, penetration resistance, and air permeability are presented. Tread
ing also increased root length by 36% compared with the control. A quadrati
c relationship between macroporosity and pasture yield indicated that at 5%
and 10% macroporosity, yield was 75% and 88% of maximum, respectively. Opt
imum macroporosity was 16-17%, while a critical macroporosity was 9-11%. Pe
netration resistance associated with 9% macroporosity was 1.4 MPa, while it
s optimum was 0.89 MPa.