![]() Last year when applying 98G to a grid sampled field we changed the pH 1 point (not 0.1 but 1.0 whole point ) in one growing season. This customer's father applied 2 tons of lime to his farms and there was no pH adjustment a year later. Ohio uses a term - effective neutralizing power (ENP ) - to compare the strength of different liming materials. ![]() The ENP of a given liming material is a function of three things - total neutralizing power (TNP-depends upon purity of the source and the ratio of calcium to magnesium ), fineness (size of the particles ), and moisture content. ![]() ENP does not give more value for a finer grind of lime. Since lime is not very soluble the finer its ground the more effective it is. Because 100 mesh has a surface area almost twice that of 60 mesh it should get a rating of 200% on the ENP scale. Lime recommendations can be found in an OSU Extension Factsheet titled "Soil Acidity and Liming for Agronomic Production" (< Most ag lime averages 25 mesh which makes it 5 times coarser than SuperCal 98G and 1/5 as effective. Pelletized lime is typically finer than ag-lime, so its ENP value may be higher. Higher ENP means that it will take fewer pounds of pelletized lime than ag lime to neutralize the same amount of soil acidity. If the soil test lime recommendation for a field is 3 tons per acre, and you have pelletized lime with an ENP of 2000 (which is what most pelletized materialsĪpproach ) you would need 3 tons of pelletized lime per acre to achieve the desired neutralization. Let's consider that same 3 ton recommendation for ag-lime with an ENP of 1000. It would require 6 tons of ag-lime to achieve the desired change in soil pH. Though it is more effective on a pound-per-pound basis than ag lime, applying 300 to 500 lb of pelletized lime per acre would not result in the desired change in soil pH because the required amount is 3 tons per acre. Just because you needed twice as much ag-lime as pelletized lime does not necessarily make pelletized lime the best choice based on cost, especially when pelletized lime can cost 5-7 times more per ton than ag lime.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |