Spreading Chalk on arable ground

Surgery

Member
Location
Oxford
got the chance of a lot of chalk to which we will put in the bottom of a couple of sheds for straw but has anyone spread it on arable ground , I know you don’t want stone of spreaders but it’s soft and would spread in some fashion , thanks
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Millions of tonnes of the stuff 4 inches under the surface of the ground here!

What is your soil type and pH? Chalk is a good buffering compound & on high mag clay will be a great source of calcium. Raising the soil pH can cause trace element availability problems but chalk itself doesn't have a huge neutralising value. How much are you thinking of spreading/ha?

https://www.aglime.org.uk/tech/natural_liming_materials.php

@Cab-over Pete
 

Surgery

Member
Location
Oxford
Millions of tonnes of the stuff 4 inches under the surface of the ground here!

What is your soil type and pH? Chalk is a good buffering compound & on high mag clay will be a great source of calcium. Raising the soil pH can cause trace element availability problems but chalk itself doesn't have a huge neutralising value. How much are you thinking of spreading/ha?

https://www.aglime.org.uk/tech/natural_liming_materials.php

@Cab-over Pete
Soil type ranging from ironstone loan to odd clay areas , don’t really know how much chalk per ha spread thou but got chance of a lot of it
 
To be any use you’ll want it reasonably well crushed. I know very little about chalk but I doubt anything bigger than half an inch in size would be any good.

As is often the case, something is often free because it’s no use, so be careful.
Can’t think why you would want it near Oxford, you’re more or less surrounded by good lime!

@Mounty would know a lot more about it than me.
 

Mounty

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Correct Pete. Most chalk is soft so works quickly but the finer it is the quicker you'll get some action. Typically varies from 25mm-dust down to about 6mm-dust. NV wants to be 45-50%.
Are your pH's in need of lime? Free or not, if your levels are good, you don't need it. Depending on the source of the chalk, if it's not been extracted from a chalk quarry, technically you will require a deployment for application to land.
 

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