Direct Driller lime article

I actually welcome a few people trying prilled lime. I have had customers use it in the past. They find it doesn’t really do what it says on the tin and go back to using bulk lime.

A prilled lime salesman could be my best salesman in the long run.
I've seen for myself that prilled does nothing long term
It can give a short hit to a crop that's struggling but that's all
 

Mounty

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Prilled lime is 100% limestone dust ground fine and prilled
The makers suggest it can be use at around 200kg a acre and equal ground lime at 2ton
Now to me school was a long time ago but even I can't get that to equal each other
Plus prilled is 10x the price of ground
You're correct, prilled lime is 100% limestone turned into a prill, but what it should say on the bag is the NV% which will be the same as the bulk lime NV% from the source material used to create the prill. The marketing does lead the unaware to believe that it is somehow a more concentrated product, but it's not. It's more expensive because of the costs accrued turning it into a prill and then bagging it, not because it has some super power.
 

Mounty

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
I'd not actually seen the original article so thanks to @Chris F for the link. Having read it through a couple of times, it is a bit misleading and I can imagine strikes a bit of panic into some bulk lime buyers and in some cases for good reason. I've been offered some terrible products over the years and I would put these into the category that the article refers to.

The comparison is a little unscientific in that they are comparing the granular to 100% of the bulk lime heaps they've seen. Is this 1 heap, 2 heaps, 10? Who knows, but you need a little more info than just what you saw tipped in a field last Wednesday. Maybe that was a very cheap load of poor quality bulk lime that a farmer bought cheap and knew what it was, but doesn't really give the author the rights to slag off bulk lime per se.

I'm not going to waste my time talking about the sieve sizes and percentages because I think that table is flawed full stop. Has anyone on this thread ever done a sieve test on lime? I've done a few and without grinding, (you don't do that on a sieve test) 0% of granular lime will pass through a 150 micron sieve FACT. They are rough prills/granules with a hard outer surface of approx 5mm in diameter, some a little smaller. So thats just bull.

The surface area comparison is also flawed for 2 reasons.
1) The granular lime tends to hit the ground as a granule. It then relies on the weather/moisture to break it down, but it still doesn't cover the amount of surface area thats stated. If it was already pulverised and landed as dust then maybe so.

2) Granular lime is sold on the basis that you can use lower quantities per ha. In the surface area comparison example, the same application rates (1t/ha) are being used for the granular and the bulk. Very convenient to suddenly widen the goal posts to pour scorn on the bulk lime.
In my granular lime application charts, based on a medium clay soil, if you were applying granular lime at 1t/ha, the bulk lime equivalent is 8t/ha. Or, applying bulk lime at 1t/ha, granular would be 125kg/ha. So about 8 x as much bulk product would cover the ground vs the granular.

You can all try this at home. Next time your better half makes a Victoria sponge, but better if she's made 2, you finish it off for her.
For the bulk lime example, get 100g of icing sugar, put it in a sieve, and sprinkle over the top of the cake. If theres any lumpy bits, leave them in the sieve.
For the granular lime example, get 12.5g of granulated sugar, don't bother with the sieve, it's too coarse to go through. Sprinkle it about on the cake as best you can.
Now have a look and see which you think looks best. Then have a slice of each, one should taste a bit sweeter than the other too.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
I'd not actually seen the original article so thanks to @Chris F for the link. Having read it through a couple of times, it is a bit misleading and I can imagine strikes a bit of panic into some bulk lime buyers and in some cases for good reason. I've been offered some terrible products over the years and I would put these into the category that the article refers to.

The comparison is a little unscientific in that they are comparing the granular to 100% of the bulk lime heaps they've seen. Is this 1 heap, 2 heaps, 10? Who knows, but you need a little more info than just what you saw tipped in a field last Wednesday. Maybe that was a very cheap load of poor quality bulk lime that a farmer bought cheap and knew what it was, but doesn't really give the author the rights to slag off bulk lime per se.

I'm not going to waste my time talking about the sieve sizes and percentages because I think that table is flawed full stop. Has anyone on this thread ever done a sieve test on lime? I've done a few and without grinding, (you don't do that on a sieve test) 0% of granular lime will pass through a 150 micron sieve FACT. They are rough prills/granules with a hard outer surface of approx 5mm in diameter, some a little smaller. So thats just bull.

The surface area comparison is also flawed for 2 reasons.
1) The granular lime tends to hit the ground as a granule. It then relies on the weather/moisture to break it down, but it still doesn't cover the amount of surface area thats stated. If it was already pulverised and landed as dust then maybe so.

2) Granular lime is sold on the basis that you can use lower quantities per ha. In the surface area comparison example, the same application rates (1t/ha) are being used for the granular and the bulk. Very convenient to suddenly widen the goal posts to pour scorn on the bulk lime.
In my granular lime application charts, based on a medium clay soil, if you were applying granular lime at 1t/ha, the bulk lime equivalent is 8t/ha. Or, applying bulk lime at 1t/ha, granular would be 125kg/ha. So about 8 x as much bulk product would cover the ground vs the granular.

You can all try this at home. Next time your better half makes a Victoria sponge, but better if she's made 2, you finish it off for her.
For the bulk lime example, get 100g of icing sugar, put it in a sieve, and sprinkle over the top of the cake. If theres any lumpy bits, leave them in the sieve.
For the granular lime example, get 12.5g of granulated sugar, don't bother with the sieve, it's too coarse to go through. Sprinkle it about on the cake as best you can.
Now have a look and see which you think looks best. Then have a slice of each, one should taste a bit sweeter than the other too.

Can I put in an order for a Victoria Sponge please. I will take mine with the icing sugar please. Strawberry or Raspberry Jam? Do we have a choice.:) An excellent and vivid example - ever thought of going into teaching?
 

Hard Graft

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
British Isles
I am suprissed no one has tagged @Warnesworth 🤣🤣 as he was the author

I have to agree prilled is sold badly and preploe don’t understand factors that effect rates of reactions and the economic of prilled vs bulk ground but feel bulk is far better but have to emit that I need to spread lime but have not

ps looking at getting a set off sieves at the minute
 
There would be far more knowledgeable people to ask to write an article then me.

One thing is for sure, if I did write one, it would be on the merits of products I supply and believe to be the best in both quality and efficiency. I certainly wouldn’t try and fluff it out by putting down other options.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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