With markets having taken a turn for the better this year, some beef farmers, after a number of difficult years, are considering spending a bit of money and reinvesting back into improving their farms – and what better place to start than spreading lime to improve soil pH.
Many beef farmers may have taken soil samples in recent years and never got a chance to take action on the results.
Speaking at a Teagasc beef farm walk in Camolin, Co. Wexford last week, Teagasc drystock advisor Jack Murphy said: “From now on to the back end of the year is an ideal time to spread lime.”
He outlined that lime is “a good value-for-money investment” in soil fertility, costing approximately €25t, delivered and spread.
“If you don’t have soil pH right, you can spread all the phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and nitrogen (N) you like but you won’t get the proper return on it.”
He stressed that soil fertility is the foundation of all types of grass-based farming systems in Ireland and suggested that all farmers should take a look at their soil test results and see what their farm needs.
“No two farms are the same; your farm may need more lime, phosphorus or potassium than a neighbouring farm.”
He noted that most farmers leave lime spreading until the back end of year when cattle are off land, but explained that “what can happen is ground conditions can become tricky and all of a sudden they miss the chance until the following spring”.
How do I get a field ready to spread lime?
From now into the back end of the year is an ideal time to spread lime. However, lime should ideally be spread on well-grazed ground, as opposed to applying it to a field with a heavy cover of grass.
Some farmers are reluctant to spread lime as they fear cattle won’t graze land that has been limed. This is not the case as a few showers of rain will generally wash any lime residue off the grass leaves.
Currently, many farmers may be taking out paddocks for bales or cutting meadows for silage. Post-cutting is another prime opportunity to get lime out on ground in need of it.
Can you put slurry on top of lime?
The short answer to the above question is, no. If a situation arises where land needs slurry and lime, farmers are advised to apply slurry first and give four to seven days – weather permitting – between the slurry application and the lime application.
The reason for this is when slurry is spread on top of lime, a lot of the nitrogen value is lost due to volatilisation. If applying fertiliser, the same rule applies.
For farmers that want to tackle soil fertility, lime is the best place to start.
Some farmers prefer to apply granulated lime through their own fertiliser spreader. This option has little benefit over quarry lime and is five times more expensive.
Does lime make land hungry?
Another common misconception is that applying lime to land will make ground more nutrient hungry. Applying lime to land makes the soil work harder for the farmer to help grow more grass.
The only instance where ground could become more hungry in appearance is when a higher silage yield is taken from the field the year following a silage application and the nutrients are not adequately returned in the form of fertiliser or slurry.
A good rule of thumb, according to Teagasc, is that where nine bales of silage per acre is taken off silage ground, approximatley 3,000g of slurry is needed to maintain the soil P and K indexes.
So, with ground conditions good, beef prices comfortable and where soil is in need of lime, farmers are encouraged to get the ground grazed-off and contact your liming contractor to arrange a date for spreading.