Rate my lime

[hendrebc]

What was wrong with the denbigh one last year? Is it a mag lime does anyone know? I had a look on their website but doesnt say

 

[Yale]

What was wrong with the denbigh one last year? Is it a mag lime does anyone know? I had a look on their website but doesnt say

@dyfxt110

 

[Yale]

What was wrong with the denbigh one last year? Is it a mag lime does anyone know? I had a look on their website but doesnt say

Pretty sure it’s not a mag lime.

Mag lime is from dolomitic limestone.

http://www.britishlime.org/education/how_lime_is_made.php#level03

 

[dyfxt110]

What was wrong with the denbigh one last year? Is it a mag lime does anyone know? I had a look on their website but doesnt say

Not mag. I had a look at it last spring and it wasn’t the best,I had a look at it in November and it was much better but by then the season was over

 

[2wheels]

If there's no information to go by, carry out your own little experiment by liming a small area, maybe an acre or two, with an aim to reach pH 7

You will soon get the feel of whether it's made a difference over a pH around 6.0-6.2

I'm sure you know your land as well, if not better than anybody and after spending a lot of money you may just feel it hasn't really given the benefit you hoped. There are lots of situations where a high pH can give a good return on investment, but equally there are places where you can keep chucking money around for little gain.

It's a shame if you can't get really good quality lime to achieve your aim at a sensible cost.

no point in aiming for a ph of 7.0. acid peaty soils,high rainfall, would lead to elemental lockup. over here in the east of scotland it is sensible to only aim for 6.5 even for arable operations. when we took over our last farm in 1968 the phs were below 5.3. it took a fair while and a lot of cash to get them up to 6.3--6.5.

 

[Macsky]

I’ve read that a particle size of limestone above 3mm is more or less ineffective, especially if you are just top dressing grass and no cultivations are taking place, so does that render over 15% of the screened stuff ineffective?

 

[GTB]

Don’t put 3t/ac on unless the whole lot is absolutely desperate for lime. Put 2.5t/acre on half this year, the worst areas. Spread the rest next year. Then retest the first areas you treated and see what’s what.

Been told by someone who should know that little and often is better in high rainfall areas because of leaching. What is your opinion? I accept that from the contractors point of view running around with a ton per acre isn't good but what' best for the soil ?

 

[Macsky]

I’m starting to think that you could put down 2t/ac of the flour, instead of 3t/ac of the screened stuff and it would still be more effective

 

[Macsky]

And slightly cheaper/ac, £104.56 Vs £111.24/ac

 

[Yale]

And slightly cheaper/ac, £104.56 Vs £111.24/ac

I know it sounds silly but how much could you buy building burnt lime in bags or dumpy bags from your nearest builders merchant.

The n value would be sky high however I’m not sure how you would spread it.

 

[quavers]

This interests.me a lot. I have 300 acres all needs liming but no way could i afford to do it all in one go or probably even done fast enough to have done the whole farm by the time the first part needs doing again in rotation. If i put prilled lime on every year would the land eventually have the pH lifted in the same way as using proper lime would? How long would this take tonsay raise from 5.5 to a 6? Ive always thought of prilled lime as a quick fix for growing a crop but wouldnt last very long. Assuming it would need to be done every year or take a backwards step with pH again.

using prilled lime every year will not build up your ph , have tried a small field over a 5 year period and it did not raise ph but allows you grow a crop . think how much fert you put on your fields and go and do exactly the same the next year , for island , and small areas i would be using prilled lime .

 

[Cab-over Pete]

no point in aiming for a ph of 7.0. acid peaty soils,high rainfall, would lead to elemental lockup. over here in the east of scotland it is sensible to only aim for 6.5 even for arable operations. when we took over our last farm in 1968 the phs were below 5.3. it took a fair while and a lot of cash to get them up to 6.3--6.5.

Fair enough, that’s good information. I never see peat soils in my area so my knowledge is limited there.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Been told by someone who should know that little and often is better in high rainfall areas because of leaching. What is your opinion? I accept that from the contractors point of view running around with a ton per acre isn't good but what' best for the soil ?

It’s up to you, again as regards cost. I am certainly happy to apply little and often if that’s what a customer wants. In fact I really dislike telling Farmers their Land is desperate for lime. I would far rather see Land needing 1.5/t acre than 3t/acre simply because bad news is often received with suspicion.

However, I feel like saying don’t shoot the messenger, it’s certainly not my fault it’s got so bad!!

For the soil I guess it’s better a little and often, keeping everything, not just lime status, correct at all times should be the goal.

 

[hendrebc]

using prilled lime every year will not build up your ph , have tried a small field over a 5 year period and it did not raise ph but allows you grow a crop . think how much fert you put on your fields and go and do exactly the same the next year , for island , and small areas i would be using prilled lime .

Ok that makes sense. Rules out that idea i guess but i hadnt rhought about it till this morning after your post so its no loss
Looks like ill be buying some proper lime this year then thanks @quavers

 

[2wheels]

Fair enough, that’s good information. I never see peat soils in my area so my knowledge is limited there.

i should have pointed that the east of scotland remarks are aimed at soils based on old red sandstone and brown forest based types.

 

[Macsky]

With rainfall and soil type here, maintaining a pH anywhere above 6.0 would be quite satisfactory I reckon

 

[North East Crofter]

With rainfall and soil type here, maintaining a pH anywhere above 6.0 would be quite satisfactory I reckon

Depends how peaty the soil is have a read of https://www.sruc.ac.uk/downloads/file/1697/tn656_soils_information_texture_and_liming I

its the aluminium in the soil which is released at low pH's which damages the plant roots, as thee is less auminium in peaty soils compared to mineral soils then you can get off with a lower target pH.

Gavin

 

[Macsky]

Much of the soil isn’t too peaty, more sandy/silty loam, just quite acidic, and needing drainage in places.

 

[Macsky]

This might sound like a daft question, but I’m wondering if there is a cost efficient way of milling coarse lime down to make it finer on farm?

 

[Cab-over Pete]

I’ve looked at doing similar for my business but it didn’t add up for me.