Removal Rates and Transfer Losses
As with dairy pastures, the major mechanism of potassium loss is not due to removal in produce but to transfer in manure and urine.
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This table shows the potassium contained in products from sheep and beef enterprises. |
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Concentration of potassium in unproductive areas such as yards or stock camps is considered a loss mechanism because the nutrient is no longer available for useful pasture production. New Zealand data suggests that in hill country over half of the dung and urine from stock will be excreted on as little as one-fifth of the paddock.
Highly concentrated potassium in urine patches is also subject to movement below the rooting zone as urine infiltrates the soil or by leaching with rainfall or irrigation. This mechanism of loss is potentially much smaller in sheep than cattle grazing systems since the volume of urine expelled at any one time is approximately ten times less.