lime

bogman_bass

There was a big buzz about lime this time last year. anybody spreading this year? I have 80 ton on the way myself

AntrimGlens

bogman_bass wrote: »

There was a big buzz about lime this time last year. anybody spreading this year? I have 80 ton on the way myself

Spread 60 tonne last week, contractor says he's been flat out this back end, guys have grazed down tight and as ground is still dry they're happy to get it on.
I wasn't there when he spread a couple of the fields and near had a heart attack when i saw where he had been, i honestly don't drive across a part of one of the fields on the quad and he has spread right across it with 10T of lime in the spreader on what must be the most side casting field we have.
Just need a couple of gentle showers to wash it in, that's the great thing about his machine, that it lays it down in nice lines rather than spreading it everywhere.

patsy_mccabe

I spread 20T about 3 weeks ago. A field that really needed it. They wouldn't spread the one load for me so I had to wait till a neighbour was spreading some. It still hasn't washed in yet. Only got a light shower since. Normally you would be worrying about it washing away.

brandonw123

how much lime per acre is recommended ?
I have a few rush fields that I have topped & sprayed
I was told that lime is good to change the ph to help reduce reoccurance of rushes.
No doubt there will be more topping & spraying next spring too !
I'm just wondering how much line to spread per acre ?

farmerjj

2tonne to the acre is normally recommended

bogman_bass

brandonw123 wrote: »

how much lime per acre is recommended ?
I have a few rush fields that I have topped & sprayed
I was told that lime is good to change the ph to help reduce reoccurance of rushes.
No doubt there will be more topping & spraying next spring too !
I'm just wondering how much line to spread per acre ?

soil test is the best answer to that question

Deepsouthwest

I spread 100t 6 days before we got that crazy flooding on sept 11th. I wonder how much of that was washed away.

brandonw123

Thanks for the info
I am fairly new to the scene so Please forgive my ignorance

Can I use bags of lime & spread 2 tonne by hand per acre or is that a different lime to bulk delivery?

Soil testing...... I haven't been there yet
Bought the place recently
All it ever saw for the last 200 years was a man with a shovel
I'm trying to bring it slowly back to life.

Cleaning out drains & getting the water to flow.
Topped & sprayed about 5 acres so far ( Very slow going as mass growth for years & no animals on it)
Plenty of rocks & boulders too..... Not great for my ancient tractor 😬

Boards is a great source of info for those like me without any !

patsy_mccabe

Soil test first and the results will instruct you how much Lime to spread per acre. A soil test costs €12.50 per sample. The maximum amount to spread per acre in one year is 3Tonne per acre.
Lime costs about €25 per tonne spread by contractor.

moll3

42 tonne out here today @2 tonne/acre

Siamsa Sessions

brandonw123 wrote: »

Thanks for the info
I am fairly new to the scene so Please forgive my ignorance

Can I use bags of lime & spread 2 tonne by hand per acre or is that a different lime to bulk delivery?

Soil testing...... I haven't been there yet
Bought the place recently
All it ever saw for the last 200 years was a man with a shovel
I'm trying to bring it slowly back to life.

Cleaning out drains & getting the water to flow.
Topped & sprayed about 5 acres so far ( Very slow going as mass growth for years & no animals on it)
Plenty of rocks & boulders too..... Not great for my ancient tractor 😬

Boards is a great source of info for those like me without any !

We spread nearly 3 ton/acre today. The soil test showed this was badly needed! We're just getting back into farming at home again, and I would definitely agree with you about this forum - there's always something useful you'd pick up and fellas on here are great to reply to any questions.

I'm happy to chip in with any info I have too: "Give. Receive. Repay." as I saw written someplace on Facebook!

freedominacup

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

We spread nearly 3 ton/acre today. The soil test showed this was badly needed! We're just getting back into farming at home again, and I would definitely agree with you about this forum - there's always something useful you'd pick up and fellas on here are great to reply to any questions.

I'm happy to chip in with any info I have too: "Give. Receive. Repay." as I saw written someplace on Facebook!

Two tonnes/acre max at one time is the general guide. No value beyond that. Every bag of N fertiliser you spread takes off the same weight of lime. So every 10 bags uses a half tonne of lime. We spread a half tonne per acre per year on average. In practice this means roughly 25% of the ground gets a two tonne application every year. Soil test every two to three years tells you where lime is needed.

keep going

Just rang for it , Tuesday at the earliest

patsy_mccabe

Ya, 2Tonne/acre for normal applications, but if your soil test shows you need 7T/acre, you have to put out the 3T the first time or you'll never get it right.
Funny but farmers were more inclined to put out lime years ago, than they are now, for whatever reason.

Farrell

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Ya, 2Tonne/acre for normal applications, but if your soil test shows you need 7T/acre, you have to put out the 3T the first time or you'll never get it right.
Funny but farmers were more inclined to put out lime years ago, than they are now, for whatever reason.

Was it free or grant aided?

patsy_mccabe

Don't know. But just from talking to local farmers, a lot said it is over 20 years since they put out lime.

johndeere3350

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Don't know. But just from talking to local farmers, a lot said it is over 20 years since they put out lime.

Sure just give a look at how much land is actively farmed around you compared to 20 years ago.
The EU hand out way too much money to you for not knocking a leave off a tree but there's no sign of them when your going reclaiming land.

I was talking to a guy lately and thatching came up he was telling me he's father used do it and he used have to travel 10 miles to find rushes.
The way it is now a man could have a full time job cutting the rushes 10 miles from that house.
Sure years ago lads used be constantly spreading what dung they had and if a rush poped up it was dug out of the ground.
Lower stock numbers and they managed to look after the ground better than the "top" lads do now.

danjoe

freedominacup wrote: »

Two tonnes/acre max at one time is the general guide. No value beyond that. Every bag of N fertiliser you spread takes off the same weight of lime. So every 10 bags uses a half tonne of lime. We spread a half tonne per acre per year on average. In practice this means roughly 25% of the ground gets a two tonne application every year. Soil test every two to three years tells you where lime is needed.

Freedom,does that mean that its ok to spread 2 ton / ac every year, would have thought that was a bit too much make ground spongy? Our fields presently requires 5t / ac

freedominacup

danjoe wrote: »

freedominacup wrote: »

Two tonnes/acre max at one time is the general guide. No value beyond that. Every bag of N fertiliser you spread takes off the same weight of lime. So every 10 bags uses a half tonne of lime. We spread a half tonne per acre per year on average. In practice this means roughly 25% of the ground gets a two tonne application every year. Soil test every two to three years tells you where lime is needed.

Freedom,does that mean that its ok to spread 2 ton / ac every year, would have thought that was a bit too much make ground spongy? Our fields presently requires 5t / ac

I wouldn't but I couldn't be sure what the consequences are. Every second year would be good enough. It's like everything the biggest responses will be from the initial applications. In three years time at the end of the grazing season you'll have lowered your lime requirement on that field by 2.5 tonnes assuming you are heavily stocked and applying a lot of fertiliser. The less fert you're applying the more of your four tonnes will be left.

jfh

Spread 40t in early Aug, was reseeding a field so suited, fields are now lovely & lush for weaned calves

Buford T. Justice XIX

danjoe wrote: »

Freedom,does that mean that its ok to spread 2 ton / ac every year, would have thought that was a bit too much make ground spongy? Our fields presently requires 5t / ac

This link might interest you. It's the Teagasc soil fertility conference from earlier this month. A good few things answered in the pdf.

http://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2015/3737/Teagasc-Soil-Fertility.pdf