N released from organic amendments is affected by soil management historyM.PalmerauthorJ.MCooperauthorA.FließbachauthorJ.MelvilleauthorC.TurnbullauthorP.ShottonauthorC.LeifertauthorA ryegrass bioassay was conducted to investigate the effect of soil management history on nitrogen mineralisation from composted manure and pelleted poultry manure. Soils were used from 2 field experiments comparing conventional and organic/low input management systems. When composted manure was added, soils which had received high rates of composted FYM under biodynamic management released a greater amount of nitrogen for plant uptake than those with a history of mineral or fresh manure fertilisation, suggesting that biological preconditioning may result in greater efficiency of composted FYM as a nitrogen source for plants. “Native” N mineralisation was found to be related to total soil N content. Nutrient turnover2007Conference paper, poster, etc.