Pelletized poultry litter as a nutrient source for turfgrass sports fields

An increasing interest in recreational sports has prompted a corresponding increase in the intensity of athletic field use and management. Proper cultural practices are essential to an athletic field management program that will produce an attractive and wear-resistant playing surface. A cultural practice that is receiving increasing attention is the use of natural organic fertilizers (e.g. manure or compost) to supplement or replace synthetic fertilizers. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate turfgrass response to the use of pelletized poultry litter (PPL) as a nutrient source and to compare core aeration and vibrating aeration on three high school athletic fields. The current practice on the athletic fields is to fertilize twice each year (spring and fall) using a synthetic fertilizer (total N for each growing season was 48 kg ha-1) and to use core aeration. Four treatment combinations were evaluated: synthetic fertilizer and vibrating aeration (VS), synthetic fertilizer and core aeration (CS), PPL and vibrating aeration (VP), and PPL and core aeration (CP). The PPL (4-2-3 analysis) was applied at a nitrogen (N) rate equivalent to the synthetic fertilizer (assuming 50% availability of N). Soil and turfgrass samples, multi-spectral remote sensing, and soil penetrometer readings were taken prior to the start of the study, and before the application of each treatment.;The use of PPL did not result in any significant changes in measured soil parameters during the 2.5 year study compared to the synthetic fertilizer. This is likely because soil nutrients were applied at nearly equivalent rates, but could also be due to the relatively short duration of the study. Soil sampling indicates that plant nutrients were supplied in adequate amounts. Tissue concentrations of Mn were affected by treatment; the VS treatment had the largest Mn increase over time. However, this increase of Mn was minimal. The synthetic fertilizers used during the fall and spring applications did not contain Mn. Remote sensing results indicate that fertilizer efficiency varies with aeration method used. The current management practice at St. Andrew's School (CS) produced the lowest turfgrass quality of all the treatments. Highest turf quality was achieved with the CP and VS treatments. Application of PPL resulted in greater turfgrass quality when compared to the same N rate of synthetic fertilizer, regardless of aeration method.;A mineralization study was also performed to determine the amount of plant available (PAN) from PPL. Using a Matapeake silt loam soil, eight treatment combinations, each with three replications, were evaluated over a period of 98d. The PPL was applied at rates of 0, 48, 146, and 244 kg N ha-1 and either incorporated (mixed) or topdressed (not-mixed) into the soil. Results show that under laboratory conditions PAN of PPL ranges from 43% to 55% (LSD=5.8%). This indicates that 50% PAN is an appropriate estimate for PPL. However, data suggest that mixing PPL into the soil results in a higher, although not significant, percentage of PAN.