Lime spreading rates.

[balerman]

This is what gets me, yiu spent nearly £50/acre on a priduct that will already have been used up . You could have put 2 ton of lime on for a few quid more that could last over 5 years
Having said that I admire you for trying new ideas , my moto has been if someone says it won't work I give it the best shot I can to see if it will

That is actually £50/ha so £20/acre so not that bad even tho it will only do the one crop.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

ha e you continued spreading lime on it since 70’s ?

It was such a traumatic experience getting that 300 tons up that we never repeated it. We followed up with a good dollop of rock phosphate about ten years later.
Today, of course, improving hill land is frowned upon and in Glastir as well.

 

[Paddington]

I’m not going to state there’s nothing in what you’re saying and that on some soils it may not be necessary to apply much lime. I don’t know enough about soil biology (does anybody?) to know if 2t/ac is too much for it. But with approximately 2000t+ of top soil in an average acre of land I can’t see that putting A BIT too much lime on is going to cause any harm to anything except the farmers bank balance.

What I do know is, to produce commodity grain, high yielding roots and veg and quality forage, the most economical way to get good yields is to have a balanced pH within the natural healthy balance of nutrients in the soil. And the best and most cost effective way to do that is to add lime or chalk after a comprehensive soil sample of the varying soil types you may have.
On the flip side, adding way too much lime can be a bad thing too.

To my mind, soil sampling should be done when the soil is in its most natural state. Moist and friable with a growing or recently harvested crop. Done on the day of collection, not sitting in a plastic bag for days and certainly not done in a lab where any particles of natural stone, brick, tile, concrete or even lime from previous applications will be ground up into a powder thus affecting the pH result.

No faffing about with expensive but unreliable electronic pH meters. Use the tried, tested and trusted method with test tubes and reliably sourced testing ingredients (for want of a better word).

But most importantly, done by someone you can trust to collect samples properly, keep soil types separate, use method and routine during testing and produce an honest recommendation for lime use. Then supply you with the best quality lime available to spread.

If you can’t find anyone in your area to do that then you’re probably not going to get the most from cost effective pH correction.

Which test kit do you use @Cab-over Pete ?
I had a Rapidtest, or some name like that, was a pain to get the mineral reagents from the states and then the meter packed up ! I am still waiting after 10 days for lab test results, so am thinking going back to doing the testing myself.

 

[Kevtherev]

Which test kit do you use @Cab-over Pete ?
I had a Rapidtest, or some name like that, was a pain to get the mineral reagents from the states and then the meter packed up ! I am still waiting after 10 days for lab test results, so am thinking going back to doing the testing myself.

Get a kit off @Mounty

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Yes, get in touch with Mounty.

 

[Farm buy]

@Bossfarmer
Mix in with dung - so you can apply lower rates & meant to be a good balancer when applying. Dung- cow manure.

always thought there was a chemical reaction between dung and fresh lime

 

[Derrick Hughes]

always thought there was a chemical reaction between dung and fresh lime

Just on the nitrogen

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Has anyone put lime prills down the spout with grass seed ,direct drill . I have someone asking . I just spread lime on top so not something I've tried

 

[Chae1]

Has anyone put lime prills down the spout with grass seed ,direct drill . I have someone asking . I just spread lime on top so not something I've tried

Theres a livestock farmer up here doing it. His p&k indices really high but ph low.

Most drills up here grain and fert. He put lime prills in fert side. So down same pipe as seed. Would have been a power harrow combi though.

 

[Sid]

Has anyone put lime prills down the spout with grass seed ,direct drill . I have someone asking . I just spread lime on top so not something I've tried

I'd be wary of anything near seed like that.

It would make the environment round the seed excessively Alkaline. Ph in that micro climate could be over 8 locking up nutrients

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I'd be wary of anything near seed like that.

It would make the environment round the seed excessively Alkaline. Ph in that micro climate could be over 8 locking up nutrients

Any thoughts on putting cow slurry on before drilling

 

[Sid]

Any thoughts on putting cow slurry on before drilling

Can also cause acidic conditions.

Guess the lime would hopefully cancel out the slurry?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Has anyone put lime prills down the spout with grass seed ,direct drill . I have someone asking . I just spread lime on top so not something I've tried

Have used prills instead of granulated fert to bulk seed out for broadcasting, that's about as close as I've got to what you're asking

Came up well, deer ate it, sheep away to the meatworks - so a massive benefit would have been cheaper to leave it the feck alone

 

[Henarar]

Have used prills instead of granulated fert to bulk seed out for broadcasting, that's about as close as I've got to what you're asking

Came up well, deer ate it, sheep away to the meatworks - so a massive benefit would have been cheaper to leave it the feck alone

It usually is

 

[Agrivator]

I'd be wary of anything near seed like that.

It would make the environment round the seed excessively Alkaline. Ph in that micro climate could be over 8 locking up nutrients

I've seen grass growing on an old lime heap. And rape growing on a heap of stones- although it didn't come to much, maybe due to lack of moisture!!!

 

[Mounty]

Only just seen this but I've done this granular thing to death in the past, the same as @Cab-over Pete. Just remember that the recommendations for granular application rates are annual treatments (not one offs or triennial) to raise the pH to the desired level.

A lot of direct drillers are putting prills down the spout but thats another matter. I use use Limex when I'm drilling for the same reason

Interested in the cost of Limex to your part of the country? Seems a long way to haul it and guessing there must be a cheaper source if haulage is less?

Get a kit off @Mounty

We've sold more kits and consumables the last 12 months than ever before. Not sure why? If anyone on here wants something just let me know and I'll sort you a discount code beforehand.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Only just seen this but I've done this granular thing to death in the past, the same as @Cab-over Pete. Just remember that the recommendations for granular application rates are annual treatments (not one offs or triennial) to raise the pH to the desired level.

Interested in the cost of Limex to your part of the country? Seems a long way to haul it and guessing there must be a cheaper source if haulage is less?

We've sold more kits and consumables the last 12 months than ever before. Not sure why? If anyone on here wants something just let me know and I'll sort you a discount code beforehand.

Around £28 for limex Cotswold lime about the same Ground Limestone £24 to £26 . thats tipped not spread. Slag is the cheapest

 

[Sid]

Around £28 for limex Cotswold lime about the same Ground Limestone £24 to £26 . thats tipped not spread. Slag is the cheapest

Cheap doesn't mean value for money

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Bang on there Sid.

It all needs working out to see what is the most cost effective.

 

[Mounty]

Around £28 for limex Cotswold lime about the same Ground Limestone £24 to £26 . thats tipped not spread. Slag is the cheapest

Thanks for that, about what I thought. Pretty expensive then with well over £20/tonne of haulage?