Lime spreading demand 'lowest in 50 years'
Is damp lime better than dry, what are the benefits of outward spreading compared to inward, and what will it all cost you?
According to contractors contacted by Agriland this week, it will cost you anywhere from €30-€34/ac to buy lime and get it spread this autumn.
But a wet spring and dry summer, coupled with money being tight on farms this year, has seen contractor spreaders not overly busy.
"Farmers had a good year last year, so there is a lot of tax to be paid," explained one contractor.
Padraig Beirne is a contractor from Co. Roscommon who has been spreading lime since 1975.
He maintains that 2026 is the worst year for lime spreading he has come across in 50 years.
Beirne operates a 13t and 7t spreader, depending on the job. He says that his rates also depend on the job:
He said: "If a farmer only wants one load it's a very different story to another farmer who wants a couple of hundred tonnes.
"The spreading man takes a couple of euro off each load, but the quarry still gets the same price," he added.
When?
There is a common misconception that lime can only be spread at the back-end of the year, but most contractors Agriland spoke to labelled that as myth.
"The only real time that you can't spread is February or March, as it would affect the pH of the silage," they said.
"A little bit in the fall and a little bit in the spring; little and often is key."
As with a lot of jobs on the farm, most of the contractors Agriland spoke to said they get contacted "last minute" to spread lime.
For Padraig Beirne, his decades of experience often prove equal to, if not better than, modern soil science:
"I'd know exactly the field that would need lime without any testing at all," he said.
How?
Technology has evolved in the 50 years that Beirne has been spreading lime.
Years ago, he was a one-man-band, towing his tractor and spreader behind the loader.
"I travelled - I don't know how many - counties around Connacht that way, but insurance has stopped that setup now," he said.
Another change in modern times is that lime spreaders offer two different directions for the rear drum rotors to spin in.
Both rotors can spin towards each other (out-to-in), or both rotors can spin away from each other (in-to-out).
Beirne is adamant that lime is far less likely to be blown by the wind when the two rotors spin in-to-out, with the lime leaving the spreader closest to the sides, not the centre.
He explained: "When you're spinning it out the centre, it tends to go higher up into the sky.
"We've tried several systems and found that the lime going out at the sides went lower to the ground.
"I didn't read that out of a book, it came from operating the machines and finding the faults," he added.
Another "very good" system that has improved lime spreading is ground-driven-floor technology:
"With the new spreaders, you can gear down or gear up and it's the wheels that control what comes out; not the PTO [power take-off].
"If I come to a very rough spot in the field and I have to slow down, the rate that the lime leaves the spreader at also slows down," Beirne added.
Most contractors Agriland spoke to recommended a spreading rate of 2t/ac on normal ground to get a "proper flow" on the spread.
Dry or damp?
Most farmers think that dry lime (direct from the mill) is the best value for money.
But one contractor in the midlands disagreed:
He said: "Lime direct from the mill is too dusty; spreading damp lime is best,
"The fastest acting, most valuable part of the lime is actually the dust that is blowing away."
However, another contractor less than 30km from him completely disagreed, while Beirne, who has had plenty of time to find out exactly what type of lime works best, said:
"Lime that is crushed one to two weeks before spreading is the best of the whole lot.
"But a lot depends on how well the lime is crushed too," he added.
Lime spreading a 'dying trend'
"Lime spreading as a trade was destroyed by a government grant a few years ago and has not recovered since."
That is the view of one contractor in the midlands.
He said that farmers went out buying large quantities of lime when the scheme was announced, but "farmers only got grant approval for 40t so some didn't bother in the end."
"It could have been the best scheme ever, but in the end it turned out to be a bit of a farce," he added.
One farmer Agriland spoke to concluded that the National Liming Program pushed the price of lime up and it has not recovered since.
One contractor maintained that farmers who bought lime through the scheme are now holding out in wait of another scheme.
One thing for sure is that all things lime spreading continue to divide opinion in Irish agriculture.
