Effects of season and fertiliser rate on phosphorus concentrations in pasture and sheep faeces in hill country

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Abstract
The effects of different rates of superphosphate fertiliser (10, 20, 30, 50, and 100 kg/ha of P) and of slope (0 – 10, 11 – 20, 21 – 30, 31 – 40° and 41° +) on P concentrations in pasture were monitored on a seasonal basis for 3 years in hill country. Faecal P concentrations were also measured. Pasture P decreased with increasing slope. Pasture and faecal P concentrations increased with increasing fertiliser rate; both were highest in winter and spring and lowest in summer. A highly significant relationship (r = 0.94) existed between the P concentration in pasture on offer for grazing within a paddock and P concentration of the faeces deposited subsequently during the grazing period. This close relationship will facilitate attempts to model P return via the grazing animal and to assess the effects on P losses by animal transfer.

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