Larne-based Kilwaughter Minerals – the manufacturers of limestone-based products, including G Lime – has launched a new soil health hub for farmers.

The online service is free to access and provides advice on various issues relating to soil health.

There is also a soil testing portal where farmers can submit soil test results and receive feedback on how best to correct any nutrient deficiencies or imbalances.

In addition, farmers can order soil test kits through the portal. The samples will be analysed by Yorkshire-based Lancrop Laboratories, which will provide a detailed set of soil analysis results, including for phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), sulphur (S), sodium (Na) and pH.

The Lancrop report also includes information on the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil, which is effectively an indicator of the ability of the soil to hold onto essential nutrients.

Along with the soil analysis, users will receive recommendations for fertiliser and lime over the next five years. Cost of the soil testing service is currently £25 for three samples.

Speaking at the launch event for the new portal last Friday, agronomist, Mark Tripney, emphasised the importance of having a balance between magnesium and calcium in soils, and ultimately using a calcium-based liming product.

“You can have a pH that is correct and still be short of calcium,” he said. “Calcium is the dominant cation. The calcium magnesium balance is crucial. Excess magnesium can make the soil sticky.”

pH

Also addressing the event, Hannah Shirt from Lancrop Laboratories, said that while NI farms might have received soil analysis across all fields as part of the soil nutrient health scheme, there is still scope to undertake a more detailed soil test in most cases.

“You could pick the best and the worst fields and analyse them for all the main nutrients,” she said.

Her advice is always to aim for a pH of 6.5 in mineral-based soils. “We always look at pH first – it is the most important,” she said.

Back in 1996, average pH in soils analysed from across the UK was 6.7, however, by 2020 this had fallen to 6.3. While that suggests lime status is still good, Shirt maintained that the figures are skewed by soil test results from calcareous soils that predominate in parts of England, which have pH values around 8.

“There are a lot of soils below 6,” she said.

“It is quite disturbing to see. It really is important to try to raise that figure up.

“Less than 10% of fields get lime every year – it should be 20%. Only around 23% of soil results are optimum for everything – there is a lot of work to do,” she said.