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southern MN | Always been told corn stalks have very little N, and it ties up more N to break it down that what you get from it. So, while burning it might lose 90-100%, you could be netting more N in the soil by burning rather than decomposing it.....
Corn on corn needs sulfur added these days, so there can't be much available sulfur in the stocks - if you lose 90-100% of almost nothing, you still have almost nothing.
They indicate their tests were done assuming all fly-ash flies away - far far away. This is not really true, and so the 20-40% losses of P & K are less than indicated.
Organic matter is the real loss of burning, which may or may not be important to your particular soils.
Exposed soils can lead to erosion, which can be a serious consideration in some climates.
All in all, the headlines of that article seem to have a conclusion in mind, and are trying to prove the conclusion.
I agree burning stalk cover can lose you some stuff. But, leaving the stalks exposed to the elements & waiting for them to go away also has losses - material blows away, or gassifies into the atmosphere.
The headines seem to be overplaying their cards?
(In my part of Mn, only burning of raod ditches, fence lines, and wetlands mostly by the DNR types happens, crop residue burning is not normal & I don't really recall anyone ever doing it.... So I have no experience, and no need for the practicce.)
--->Paul | |
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Burning vs non...
