Silage season is well underway on Irish dairy farms, with the harvesting of second-cut silage due to begin on farms soon.
Lime is often referred to as the forgotten fertiliser of Irish farmers, with only 50% of the national lime requirement being spread.
However, it is important to remember that it is a sustainable and cost-effective way to improve soil fertility – and thus, grassland productivity on farm.
Nitrogen usage
Irish agriculture is expected to reduce our use of nitrogen (N) fertilisers and increase our usage of lime.
Correcting soil pH, allows for more efficient use of N fertilisers, meaning less N will be required to grow the same amount of grass.
For what is a relatively cheap product, lime offers many benefits to Irish farmers in terms of return on investment.
According to research, the return on investment from lime gives an extra €4-7 for every €1 invested in lime.
Silage ground
One thing farmers could be considering doing in late summer or early autumn is spreading lime on silage ground.
After second-cut has been harvested, the sward is clean, which means lime will not stick to the grass leaves
This offers farmers the opportunity to spread lime on these fields, if it is required.
With the harvesting of second-cut silage just around the corner, now is a good time organise getting the lime spread.
This also means that the required time between lime and slurry of three to six months can be observed.
The timing of lime application
Traditionally, lime was spread in the backend of the year, but in recent years the backend has been the wettest time of the year.
Although spreading lime is important, damaging land to do so is not advised.
The advice around the spreading of lime has now changed because of this. It is recommended to spread lime when weather conditions are more favourable – earlier in the year.