Increasing the efficiency with which crops use supplied nitrogen (N) can minimize the impact on the environment. In the growing seasons 1990/91 to 1992/93, the effects of different cropping systems on yield, N uptake by the grain and apparent N-use efficiency (NUE) of the grain of winter wheat and winter barley were investigated in a factorial field experiment at Hohenschulen Experimental Station near Kiel in NW Germany. The crop rotation was oilseed rape–winter wheat–winter barley, and soil tillage (conservation tillage without ploughing, conventional tillage), application of pig slurry (none, autumn, spring, autumn+spring), mineral N fertilization (0–240 kg N ha−1) and application of fungicides (none, applications against pathogens of the stems, leaves and ears) were all varied. Each year, the treatments were applied to all three crops of the rotation and were located on the same plots.

Averaged over all factors, wheat yield was >7 t ha−1 dry matter in all years and N uptake of the harvested grain varied between 140 and 168 kg N ha−1. Pig slurry application in autumn increased grain yield and N uptake more than spring slurry in two out of three years. Mineral N unfertilized wheat yielded only 5·3–6·3 t ha−1 depending on the year, mineral N fertilization increased wheat yield up to 8 t ha−1. Barley yield was lower than wheat yield, ranging from 4·5 t ha−1 in 1993 to 6·3 t ha−1 in 1992. Unlike wheat, spring slurry N affected barley yield and N uptake more than autumn slurry.

Wheat apparently utilized 12–21% and barley up to 13% of the applied slurry N for its grain development. In 1991, the highest apparent slurry N-use efficiency (SNUE) of wheat and barley occurred after the late spring slurry application. However, in the following years, autumn SNUE of wheat was similar to (1992) or higher than (1993) spring SNUE, presumably because of vigorous tiller growth before winter. Additionally applied mineral fertilizer N decreased SNUE.

Apparent mineral fertilizer N-use efficiency (FNUE) was higher than SNUE and ranged in wheat from 40 to 59% and in barley between 19 and 37% of the applied mineral fertilizer N. FNUE decreased with increasing N fertilization.

To improve the N-use efficiency of both slurry N and mineral fertilizer N, more information is needed about the combined use of both N sources, with special emphasis on split applications of slurry as is common practice for mineral N fertilizer.