Soil Testing

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Anyone care to decipher this for me? I'm finding this field particularly prone to water retention. I do think I've an underlying compaction problem as well.

I always thought the ideal Ca:Mg ratio was 2:1?
 
Hardysplicer said:
When is last time it got Calcium lime

Ca:Mg = 5.2:1
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Thanks for the conversion :Thumbp2:, couldn't find that anywhere.

It got about 1.5t of Calcium lime in September 2017 and 2t of Magnesium lime in April 2016.

It will get calcium lime at some stage in the next year. I assume you are thinking my magnesium is too high?

I'm finding it hard to build P there, same result as two years ago. LOTS of dung got the K right though and OM was a big surprise.
 
When you say calcium lime or magnesium lime, what exactly is the difference?? Obviously one has calcium and one magnesium but I just ring local quarry and order a load of “lime”...... no idea what I’m getting.
 
Rebelman said:
When you say calcium lime or magnesium lime, what exactly is the difference?? Obviously one has calcium and one magnesium but I just ring local quarry and order a load of “lime”...... no idea what I’m getting.
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Ground around here is naturally high in magnesium, calcium lime is the correct one to use here. You can get a blend of both though, 60:40 or 70:30 etc. Your soil sample will reveal which is required. Ten years ago I spread 250 tons of Ca/lime on the entire farm as required by soil samples but I always used Mag/lime up to then. Five years ago (I do total farm soil samples every five years of each field and not a basic test either) after sampling again I only had to apply around 60 tons of Ca/lime on the entire farm. Due to be tested in the next year again.
 
MF30 said:
Ground around here is naturally high in magnesium, calcium lime is the correct one to use here. You can get a blend of both though, 60:40 or 70:30 etc. Your soil sample will reveal which is required. Ten years ago I spread 250 tons of Ca/lime on the entire farm as required by soil samples but I always used Mag/lime up to then. Five years ago (I do total farm soil samples every five years of each field and not a basic test either) after sampling again I only had to apply around 60 tons of Ca/lime on the entire farm. Due to be tested in the next year again.
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Am I right in thinking that you do the whole farm once every five years? Is there an advantage in doing it that way ? I rotate my soil tests around the farm , testing the year before osr, beans, and beet, and one or two grass fields. All fields get tested at least once in a five year period, spreads out the cost and the effort.
 
Soissons said:
Am I right in thinking that you do the whole farm once every five years? Is there an advantage in doing it that way ? I rotate my soil tests around the farm , testing the year before osr, beans, and beet, and one or two grass fields. All fields get tested at least once in a five year period, spreads out the cost and the effort.
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Yes, I test and lime the whole farm once every five years. I see it like an NCT test, do it once every 5 years, spread lime and forget about it for 5 years. If P and K are low, it can take five years to raise it significantly so any more frequently on individual fields is unnecessary. We only grow cereals and grass so I usually do a test that covers a few elements too for the sake of a few euro. I use the IAS lab in Bagenalstown which is very reasonably priced. I do each individual field regardless of size and I'd usually take 3 separate samples in a field over 20 acres in size. Wouldn't be too concerned about the cost as you'd be spending on one thing or another every year anyway and I'd just go easy on other spending on a soil sampling year.
 
nashmach said:
UK lab is it @Hardysplicer? I'll be honest and say it was the OM which I was most curious about as we all thought it could be very low.

Up to now I've always focussed on pH, P and K but got the detailed results this time as well.

It has more underlying issues anyway.
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Yes NRM I think you still need more calcium
Does the soil act sticky. Stick to your boots when wet, act heavy when it should be light
 
Is plant tissue testing expensive ? I was thinking it might be a good investment to try improve soil nutrient quality. I see there’s a place in naas that does it
 
Blackwater boy said:
Yara labs in the UK. Ask your ag Chem or fertiliser supplier, they probably have an account with them.
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Is it still possible to send plant material to the uk post brexit? I used to always get samples tested with Lanrop through the co-op but it was stopped this year to some shower in Kerry that made a proper balls of it.
 
New soil testing scheme being launched tomorrow. 16 samples up to 160ac.

Detailed sampling results to be provided.

What is the 10m budgeted for? Is it cover the farmers fees for the samples, it is quite unclear.
 
nashmach said:
New soil testing scheme being launched tomorrow. 16 samples up to 160ac.

Detailed sampling results to be provided.

What is the 10m budgeted for? Is it cover the farmers fees for the samples, it is quite unclear.
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The 10m is to cover the testing, the farmer doesn't pay anything and doesn't receive any money, just the results and I think advice on reading the results, the last bit I'm not to sure of
 
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