Dry weather has seen ground conditions improve across the country and while the current focus on many farms is on slurry spreading, give some thought to liming soils this autumn.
Lime can be one of the best investments on farm as acidic soils, ie soils with below pH6 limits grass growth and the availability of nutrients from slurry or chemical fertilisers.
When using ground limestone, it can take four to six months for the product to have the desired effect of conditioning soil and correcting pH. Therefore, lime applied in autumn gives plenty of time to raise pH, priming soils for optimum growth next spring.
Soil samples taken in recent years will give a pH value and in some cases, indicate how much lime will be required to raise soils above pH6.
But in the absence of an analysis, applying 1t to 2t/acre of lime this autumn will be money well spent. Limit the maximum spreading rate to 3t/acre in a single application.
If lime will be applied to fields that received slurry, leave a gap of 10 to 14 days between the two applications.
Read more
Outlay of up to €240,000 on taking 100 cattle to finish this winter - Teagasc
In pictures: take a look back at some of our favourite photos from Ploughing
Dry weather has seen ground conditions improve across the country and while the current focus on many farms is on slurry spreading, give some thought to liming soils this autumn.
Lime can be one of the best investments on farm as acidic soils, ie soils with below pH6 limits grass growth and the availability of nutrients from slurry or chemical fertilisers.
When using ground limestone, it can take four to six months for the product to have the desired effect of conditioning soil and correcting pH. Therefore, lime applied in autumn gives plenty of time to raise pH, priming soils for optimum growth next spring.
Soil samples taken in recent years will give a pH value and in some cases, indicate how much lime will be required to raise soils above pH6.
But in the absence of an analysis, applying 1t to 2t/acre of lime this autumn will be money well spent. Limit the maximum spreading rate to 3t/acre in a single application.
If lime will be applied to fields that received slurry, leave a gap of 10 to 14 days between the two applications.
Read more
Outlay of up to €240,000 on taking 100 cattle to finish this winter - Teagasc
In pictures: take a look back at some of our favourite photos from Ploughing
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