Anyone got opinions on bagged lime ..I have a good summer grazing farm rented on a conacre basis for past four years. .soil test show index 2s n 3s but ph is low at 5.5 . Normally I wouldn't even consider bags and horse out 2 ton but the lady who owns the land will not even consider a lease and is notoriously contrary. I seem to get on ok with her in that we have as little contact as possible ....she did ring me in july 12 to suggest I had made her land v wet...seriously !
Grolime
- Thread starter bmo
- Start date
tinman
Very Senior Member
there were threads running here before about bagged lime, and unless im badly mistaken the consensus was its not as good as the spread lime.
but it sounds like to me you dont have a big pile of choice, if she seen a lime spreader running about the field she could be on the blower a lot more....
but it sounds like to me you dont have a big pile of choice, if she seen a lime spreader running about the field she could be on the blower a lot more....
diesel power
Well-Known Member
Ah jaysus thats fierce blagguarding, sure 2012 was a great year:D.
On your question, bagged lime on grassland is a waste of money. I tried it on a few fields here a couple of years ago and I saw no difference and the soil test showed no improvement either. Personally I think it only suits tillage ground where you want a quick result. I've used it on WB in the past on land that was very low in lime and I think it did work well. I think [MENTION=3098]laoisfarmer[/MENTION] has used it as well?. One final note, it's or it was the same price as a ton of ground lime and I know which I'd prefer.
nashmach
Well-Known Member
Disagree with you there DP and surprised to see the test didn't show it. I would not use bagged lime here anymore either but have seen the one year effect but that's all.
As tinman says, given the OP's situation, no other real alternative in this case. Will be needing a good few bags of it though to bring up indexs a whole unit.
headcase
Very Senior Member
about 2 tons to the acres worthThanks for advice lads .. I think headcase sumed it up . Ill organise lime this week . Ye gave me the shove I needed ..on a final note. The man who rented it before me was feeding a few cattke in the crush for a few weeks ..she found out and sent word to stop and clean up the muck . She happened to drive by and him loading up a dump trailer w muck n bringin it away coz she didnt allow muck to spread on land .nyway she rang the auctioneer n got him evicted straight away coz she said he was "stealing her land" ..I prob should have posted this under loopy landowners
Blackwater boy
Moderator
2 tonnes is about €42 an acre, 3 bags of gran lime is about €30 an acre, I do think the bag stuff works well but it's a 1 year fix in situations where it is urgent, low ph effects all elements not working correctly so in a nutshell I'd throw out the quarry stuff and hope you get. 2 years out of the land, that will more than pay for the quarry stuff versus the bag stuff
headcase
Very Senior Member
bagged cant work the same as your applying 150kgs instead of 2000kgs
bagged is the same stuff as bulk so how can it?
Blackwater boy
Moderator
Is the neutralising value of bagged lime not far higher than quarry lime so it works a lot quicker?
headcase
Very Senior Member
nope its basically the same stuff
its all the dust of ground lime pelleted for ease of spreading
if it had a higher NV then it would be so caustic it would burn your hands
diesel power
Well-Known Member
Isn't it because it's so fine that it dissolves much quicker into the soil then ground lime?.
headcase
Very Senior Member
maybe but look at the application rate!!
it might be made from the same stuff JD use
Blackwater boy
Moderator
Exactly what I taught
headcase
Very Senior Member
Blackwater boy
Moderator
If the bag stuff is very fine and has a higher neutralising value then a lower rate should still give a response , I know it is a very short term solution but even at 150 kgs per acre it gives a kick enough to make an impact for a few months. Yes/ no?
headcase
Very Senior Member
yes it will but from all my previous experience the most of a "kick" you will get is .1 yes thats .1 of a improvement
muckymanor
Well-Known Member
I'll give you my perspective. At home I have 35 acres. A mix of poor upland and dry drained bogland. Land is too wet to spread lime in spring and I'd lose too much ground to spread 20 ton in autumn. Also, I wouldn't put on any more than 1/2 ton per acre any year because too much lime will make my ground very soft - and no contractor will do that for me.
So last year I bought 3 ton of gromax
http://www.irishlime.ie/our-products/quicklime/growmax
€180 per ton if I remember correct.
It was spread at about 100kg to the acre at the same time as I was spreading the fertilizer. (unlike ground lime, you can there is no waiting period between it and fert or slurry).
I know that last year was a good year so results are a bit tipped but:
1. I have a paddock system and noticed that grass growth was about 25% faster than any other comparable year.
2. Buttercups are dead, so is a lot of the crowfoot and other weeds that was making up the swart.
3. Meadows were 25% heavier and regrew a lot faster in comparison to other years.
4. Rushes were significantly reduced on the farm.
5. I have had a lot of grass grow over the winter in comparison to other years.
The growmax was spread in early april and I noticed that by autumn, if you got down on your knees and went searching through the grass roots, you could still find some of the pellets - they were slowly breaking down, but did not wash into the ground in the first shower.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating - my most recent soil tests show a ph of 5.8 on my boggy land and 6.5 on my upland. However, in comparison to this time last year, when my bogland was 5.0 and upland 5.9, I am at a good starting base and I plan just to spread 50kg of growmax per acre in order to maintain ph levels and to monitor ph levels.
Everyone talks about the cost of granlime. Here's the way that I looked at it. In our Suckler Discussion group, our advisor challenged us to spread at least 80kg of growmax per acre and reduce our spend on fertilizer by the amount that we spent on the growmax. He even advised that if we spread growmax (or any granlime) without spreading fertilizer at all, then we would see an increase in grass growth due to the lime helping the grass to make better use of the nitrogen already in the ground.
I reduced my fertilizer spend for this particular farm by approximately €520, but I don't think that I'm exaggerating when I say that I saw far more than €520 (worth of fertilizer spread) improved grass growth, improved grass quality, decrease of weeds, etc. etc.
So what did the granlime cost me?
So last year I bought 3 ton of gromax
http://www.irishlime.ie/our-products/quicklime/growmax
€180 per ton if I remember correct.
It was spread at about 100kg to the acre at the same time as I was spreading the fertilizer. (unlike ground lime, you can there is no waiting period between it and fert or slurry).
I know that last year was a good year so results are a bit tipped but:
1. I have a paddock system and noticed that grass growth was about 25% faster than any other comparable year.
2. Buttercups are dead, so is a lot of the crowfoot and other weeds that was making up the swart.
3. Meadows were 25% heavier and regrew a lot faster in comparison to other years.
4. Rushes were significantly reduced on the farm.
5. I have had a lot of grass grow over the winter in comparison to other years.
The growmax was spread in early april and I noticed that by autumn, if you got down on your knees and went searching through the grass roots, you could still find some of the pellets - they were slowly breaking down, but did not wash into the ground in the first shower.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating - my most recent soil tests show a ph of 5.8 on my boggy land and 6.5 on my upland. However, in comparison to this time last year, when my bogland was 5.0 and upland 5.9, I am at a good starting base and I plan just to spread 50kg of growmax per acre in order to maintain ph levels and to monitor ph levels.
Everyone talks about the cost of granlime. Here's the way that I looked at it. In our Suckler Discussion group, our advisor challenged us to spread at least 80kg of growmax per acre and reduce our spend on fertilizer by the amount that we spent on the growmax. He even advised that if we spread growmax (or any granlime) without spreading fertilizer at all, then we would see an increase in grass growth due to the lime helping the grass to make better use of the nitrogen already in the ground.
I reduced my fertilizer spend for this particular farm by approximately €520, but I don't think that I'm exaggerating when I say that I saw far more than €520 (worth of fertilizer spread) improved grass growth, improved grass quality, decrease of weeds, etc. etc.
So what did the granlime cost me?
headcase
Very Senior Member
Did you soil test before and after?
tinman
Very Senior Member
there is two quarries within a mile of each other here, both sell lime dust, but one is finer than the other.
the quarry that dose the coarser limestone is spread more here, lads say the finer stuff is a kind of a quick fix but goes away a lot faster.
the coarser stuff lasts longer and you get more bang for your buck so to speak.
the quarry that dose the coarser limestone is spread more here, lads say the finer stuff is a kind of a quick fix but goes away a lot faster.
the coarser stuff lasts longer and you get more bang for your buck so to speak.
G
guest 1
Guest
Would the thought not occur to lads that the finer it is the quicker it dissolves into the soil, and the coarser it is the longer it spends hanging around doing nothing? The most important factor in regard to lime is the Total Neutralising Value, that alone determines how much bang you're getting for your buck, everything else is just window dressing to a certain degree.