Europ. J. Agronomy 56 (2014) 9–18 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect European Journal of Agronomy j ourna l h o mepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eja Relationships between soil fertility, herbage quality and manure composition on grassland-based dairy farms J.A. Reijneveld a,∗ , G.W. Abbink a , A.J. Termorshuizen b , O. Oenema c a BLGG AgroXpertus, Binnenhaven 5, 6709 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands b BLGG Research, The Netherlands c Wageningen University & Research Centre, Alterra, P.O. Box 47, NL-6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 6 July 2013 Received in revised form 12 February 2014 Accepted 26 February 2014 Available online 20 March 2014 Keywords: Soil tests Soil fertility Herbage quality Manure composition Fertilization Nutrients Grassland Dairy farms a b s t r a c t It is reasonable to expect that compliance with grassland fertilization recommendations in the long run results in optimal soil fertility, and subsequent herbage quality. Here, we evaluate the development of soil, herbage and manure characteristics and their relation over the last decades. We hypothesized that herbage and manure quality are related with soil fertility. We used a large database with results of soil tests, spring forage quality characteristics, and manure analyses, which were made on demand of dairy farmers. We considered the Netherlands as a whole and three selected regions with contrasting soil types (sandy soil, riverine clay, and peaty marine clay). Effects of soil fertility on herbage quality were evident when comparing farms. Farms higher in soil P and K generally have correspondingly higher contents in forage. On average, soil fertility and herbage characteristics were within or just above the agronomical optimal range during the last decades. Herbage crude protein content decreased in all regions during last two decades, which is likely an effect of legislative measures on decreasing the application of N. Selenium (Se) and sulphur (S) contents increased sharply on sandy soils, likely because of increased use of Se and S containing fertilizers. Manure composition did not differ between soil types. In conclusion, at farm level, the element composition of herbage reflected the soil fertility status. The contents of S, P, K, Na, Mg, and Ca in the herbage were all significantly influenced by soil fertility characteristics. Our results emphasize the importance of maintaining soil fertility for high quality roughage production. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Grasslands cover large acreages of the world. Managed grass- lands are especially found in temperate regions in New Zealand, western Europe, and the southern part of Latin America. These man- aged grasslands offer high-quality forage to dairy and beef cattle and thereby contribute to our food supply. In favourable regions, forage dry matter (DM) yields of 15 M g per ha (Drennan et al., 2005) can be achieved, with proper (nutrient) management. To optimize production, fertilization recommendations for grassland, based on soil tests, have been developed, mostly during the 1950s and 1960s (Voss, 1998; Anonymus, 1989). It is expected that com- pliance with these recommendations would have resulted in soil fertility characteristics within the optimal ranges. Recommenda- tions for grasslands also consider the element composition of the herbage, as ruminants require the intake of sufficient amounts of ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 652002111; fax: +31 888761010. E-mail address: ArjanReijneveld@blgg.agroxpertus.nl (J.A. Reijneveld). essential elements for optimal production and performance. Hence, next to soil fertility, compliance to fertilization recommendations would be expected to result also in optimal levels of essential elements in harvested herbage. Moreover, the composition of the excrements of ruminants reflects the composition of the diet and hence indirectly also the way farmers comply with fertilization recommendations. However, whether this is the case in farmers’ practice has not been evaluated in a systematic way so far. It is known that yearly fertilization practices affects the mineral com- position of herbage directly (Stout et al., 1977; Edmeades, 2003; Van Soest et al., 1978), but again little work has linked the effects of soil fertility to herbage quality and manure composition under practical conditions. Soil fertility characteristics change over time due to changes in fertilization practises, for example in response to for example, fertilization recommendations and governmental regulations (e.g. De Clercq et al., 2001; Schröder and Neeteson, 2008). Herbage and manure quality may also vary between years, due to differences in weather conditions and fertilization practices. This inherent vari- ability suggests that linking soil fertility to herbage quality and http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2014.02.004 1161-0301/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.