Abstract
A field experiment was conducted from 2000 to 2007 on three-year old alfalfa stand near Star City in northeastern Saskatchewan to determine the influence of balanced application of sulfur (S), phosphorus (P), or potassium (K) fertilizers on forage dry matter yield (DMY) and seed yield, protein concentration (PC) in forage, concentration and uptake of total nitrogen (N), P, K, S, and boron (B) in forage and seed, and residual soil extractable P, exchangeable K and sulfate-S. Appropriate application of S, P, or K fertilizer nutrients was required to obtain optimum yield, PC, and nutrient concentration and uptake, especially when alfalfa was grown for hay production. Yield response to fertilization was much more frequent and much higher when alfalfa was managed as hay compared to when managed for seed production. The results suggest the importance of proper fertilization in increasing longevity of alfalfa stands. Under both hay and seed plots, there was only a small increase in residual sulfate-S from S fertilization, but significant accumulation of extractable P mainly in the 0–15 soil layer from P application. There was relatively higher concentration of exchangeable K in soil in the seed plots than in hay plots. In hay plots, concentrations of residual exchangeable K in soil were negatively related to DMY, especially in 2007. The findings suggest that when a soil is testing low (or deficient) in a nutrient and alfalfa growth is reduced, then alfalfa producers should consider applying fertilizers to supply adequate amounts of nutrients that are lacking in the soil, especially for optimum forage production. However, it is still difficult to predict accurately if a profitable alfalfa seed yield response to fertilization would occur, particularly when soils are testing marginal in some nutrient levels and yields are negatively affected by abnormal weather conditions (drought soil moisture conditions reducing plant growth, wet, cloudy and cool weather conditions decreasing pollination activity and late summer and/or early autumn frost damage to seed formation) that often occur in the growing season in this region.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
S, P or K fertilization was required for optimum alfalfa yield.
- Taxon
- alfalfa
Medicago sativae0 - Treatment
- S, P, or K fertilizer nutrientse0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- optimume0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Appropriate application of S, P, or K fertilizer nutrients was required to obtain optimum yield, PC, and nutrient concentration and uptake, especially when alfalfa was grown for hay production.”
Claim · model-written summary
S, P or K fertilization was required for optimum forage protein concentration and nutrient content and uptake.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- S, P, or K fertilizer nutrientse0
- Outcome
- PC, and nutrient concentration and uptakee0
- Direction
- optimume0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Appropriate application of S, P, or K fertilizer nutrients was required to obtain optimum yield, PC, and nutrient concentration and uptake, especially when alfalfa was grown for hay production.”
Claim · model-written summary
Yield response to fertilization was more frequent and higher for hay than for seed production.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- fertilizatione0
- Outcome
- Yield response to fertilizatione0
- Direction
- much highere0
- Comparator
- seed productione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Yield response to fertilization was much more frequent and much higher when alfalfa was managed as hay compared to when managed for seed production.”
Claim · model-written summary
Proper fertilization may increase alfalfa stand longevity.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- proper fertilizatione0
- Outcome
- longevity of alfalfa standse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The results suggest the importance of proper fertilization in increasing longevity of alfalfa stands.”
Claim · model-written summary
S fertilization caused a small increase in residual soil sulfate-S.
- Taxon
- ALFALFAMedicago sativat0
- Treatment
- S fertilizatione0
- Outcome
- residual sulfate-Se0
- Direction
- small increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Under both hay and seed plots, there was only a small increase in residual sulfate-S from S fertilization, but significant accumulation of extractable P mainly in the 0–15 soil layer from P application.”
t0“ALFALFA”
Claim · model-written summary
P application significantly increased soil extractable P, mainly in the 0–15 soil layer.
- Taxon
- ALFALFAMedicago sativat0
- Treatment
- P applicatione0
- Outcome
- extractable Pe0
- Direction
- accumulatione0
- Qualifier
- 0–15 soil layere0
Not reportedOrgan / stageComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Under both hay and seed plots, there was only a small increase in residual sulfate-S from S fertilization, but significant accumulation of extractable P mainly in the 0–15 soil layer from P application.”
t0“ALFALFA”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil exchangeable K concentration was higher in seed plots than hay plots.
- Taxon
- ALFALFAMedicago sativat0
- Outcome
- exchangeable K in soile0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- hay plotse0
- Setting
- seed plotse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“There was relatively higher concentration of exchangeable K in soil in the seed plots than in hay plots.”
t0“ALFALFA”
Claim · model-written summary
Residual soil exchangeable K was negatively related to alfalfa dry matter yield in hay plots.
- Taxon
- ALFALFAMedicago sativat0
- Compound
- exchangeable Ke0
- Outcome
- DMYe0
- Direction
- negatively relatede0
- Qualifier
- 2007e0
- Setting
- hay plotse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In hay plots, concentrations of residual exchangeable K in soil were negatively related to DMY, especially in 2007.”
t0“ALFALFA”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend fertilizing low nutrient soils to support alfalfa forage production.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Outcome
- applying fertilizers to supply adequate amounts of nutrientse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“alfalfa producers should consider applying fertilizers to supply adequate amounts of nutrients that are lacking in the soil, especially for optimum forage production.”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors found profitable alfalfa seed yield responses to fertilizer difficult to predict.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Outcome
- profitable alfalfa seed yield response to fertilizatione0
- Qualifier
- difficult to predict accuratelye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“it is still difficult to predict accurately if a profitable alfalfa seed yield response to fertilization would occur”
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See all 184 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.