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Aglime Basics 11/05/01 10:24:11 AM
Ag lime ~ The Key to Growing Any Indiana
Crop
The key to the successful and profitable
growth of any Indiana crop is total soil fertility management. This involves achieving and
maintaining proper soil pH. Indiana Aglime is the best and the most natural way to achieve
the correct pH for your fields. It's a well-known fact that soil acidity reduces yield and
profit potential. Unless your soil's pH is correct, the fertilizers we recommend and sell
are not fully available to the crop you have planted.
How Indiana Soils Become Acidic...
When fields are not limed regularly, they become acidic. Erosion,
leaching, acid rain, even the normal growing of crops all contribute to acidifying the
soil. Erosion and leaching physically remove calcium and magnesium from the soil. In
addition, plants naturally consume calcium and magnesium as they grow. Rain containing
debris from the burning of fossil fuels deposits nitric and sulfuric acids into the soil.
Although the annual application of nitrogen fertilizer is essential to the efficient
production of many crops, its continued use actually promotes the development of acid
conditions in the soil. The result...Indiana fields can quickly
become acidic!
Proper pH Levels
Crop |
Desired pH Range |
Corn |
6.0-7.0 |
Soybeans |
6.0-7.5 |
Alfalfa |
6.5-7.5 |
Wheat |
6.0-7.0 |
The pH scale is based on logarithms. While difficult to explain, the meaning is
this: a pH of 6 is 10 times more acidic than a pH of 7!
Problems with Improper pH
Nearly everything we do with fertility, and weed control as well, is related to pH.
At too high or too low of pHs, nutrients are either tied up, making them
unavailable for a plant's use, or taken up too much, resulting in plant sickness or in
extreme cases death! Additional applications of fertilizer on ground with improper
pH levels are wasted, since the plant is unable to use it and it becomes bound in the
soil. The only way to release tied-up nutrients is th maintain a proper pH.
Weed control as well is impacted by soil pH. Farm Fertilizers recommended soil
applied herbicides can similarly be tied-up and unable to control weeds, or in some cases,
carried-over to injure next year's crop. Certain weed species are also better suited
to lower pH's, causing them to prosper and become a problem if pH problems aren't taken
care of.
Additional Benefits of Regular
Lime Application
In addition to balancing pH to make better use of fertilizers and herbicides, aglime
also supplies CALCIUM and MAGNESIUM, two essential nutrients for the plant. Aglime
is the most cost-effective way to apply these two necessary nutrients to the soil.
Despite these facts, many Indiana growers delay
liming in an effort to hold down costs. They let their soils become dangerously acidic! If
you haven't taken soil samples within the past three years, or if you haven't limed your
soils to recommended levels, you are not getting optimum crop production... or optimum
farm income.
Test Your Soil Regularly
The only way to make sure your pH is at the proper level is through soil
testing. We recommend soil testing on average of every four years, or whenever a
problem is seen in the field. Don't rely on things such as "abnormal weed
pressure" or a "regular schedule" to tell you when its time to lime, rely
on a soil test. If you are unsure of how to properly test your soil, contact Farm Fertilizers.
We will either be able to guide you in proper soil testing, or do the testing for
you!
The Best Time To Lime...
Fall and early winter applications are
recommended even if tillage operations are not performed until the spring. Early spring is
also a good time to spread aglime. Because aglime reacts with soil on contact, applying
aglime at any time is better than delaying the application for another year. Farm
Fertilizers is the areas best source for aglime and its proper application. Contact us today to have
lime applied on your farm!
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