Cattle trampling reduces the risk of nitrate leaching in organic dairy rotations

Summary

Organic dairy farming is characterized by grazing cows in contrast to Danish conventional farms where the majority of cows are kept indoors. Cattle trampling reduces the finer macroporosity in the first five to ten centimetres of the soil. This caused a low infiltration capacity at the soil surface, giving a higher probability to initiate macropore flow at the surface. Rapid water movement through macropores bypasses the soil matrix, reducing nitrate leaching.