Jones, Earl

Volk, Garth W.

English

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Liming Ohio's Acid Soils Earl Jones, Extension Agronomist, and Garth W. Volk, Chairman Department of Agronomy. Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station ACID soils need adequate liming if satisfactory productivity is to be attained. Liming changes an acid soil to one more favorable to crop growth, supplies calcium and magnesium as crop nutrients, and changes soil phosphorus to a more available condition. There is no known substitute for liming. 80% of Ohio Needs Lime About 80 percent of the unlimed soils in Ohio need liming materials so that alfalfa and sweet clover can be grown satifactorily. Many acres of limed soils need more lime be-fore present treatments can be con-sidered adequate. Most of the soils of eastern Ohio never contained much lime. Lime that built up in the organic matter on the soil surf ace in original for-ests enabled pioneer farmers to grow good clover for some years until acidity became a problem. Soils of western Ohio and small areas of soils in eastern and south-eastern Ohio developed from the decomposition of limestones and originally were not acid. Leaching of limestone from up-per soil layers by rainwater and re-moval of nutrients by crops has led to the development of soil acidity on most of the light colored soils in Ohio which originally contained limestone. (Acidity usually devel-ops more slowly on the dark col-ored soils, but there are many dark colored soils in Ohio which are acid.) How Soil Loses Lime Topsoil loses lime in three ways : By crop removal, by leaching (dis-solved in soil water and carried into subsoil and deeper), and by erosion. Common crops remove lime in the following order: Alfalfa, clov-ers, soybeans, corn, timothy, and the common grain crops. Legumes used for hay or pasture remove calcium and magnesium at a high rate. For example, consider a 4-year rotation of corn, wheat, and 2 years of alfalfa mixtures. Yields are 50 bushels of corn, 25 bushels of wheat, and 3 tons of hay. Crops re-move calcium and magnesium equivalent to 150 to 160 pounds of calcium carbonate per acre each year. With an annual rainfall of 36 inches, leaching removes about 200 pounds of calcium carbonate from the topsoil. A small portion of this is not lost entirely since it neutral-izes the acid subsoil which is bene-ficial to crop production. Erosion may be the greatest cause of loss of lime. Table 1. Yields in Different Rotation with Lig-ht Liming and Complete Liming, Average Yields 1939-1944, Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio Crop Yields m Bushels or Tons per Acre Rotation L1mmg Corn Wheat Hay Partial' 68.4 30.4 2.75 Corn, wheat, red clover Completet 79.2 44.7 3.08 Partial 72.5 32.6 2.28 Corn, wheat, alfalfa Complete 85.8 49.1 3.50 Corn, wheat, alfalfa- Partial 73.7 27.4 2.93 clover-timothy Complete 81.0 39.9 3.97 ' Limed to pH 5.5 t Limed to pH 7.0 Proper Liming Pays Off Many do not always appreciate the necessity of adequate liming so the reaction of the entire plow layer is brought up to or close to neutrality. However, Table 1 shows increases in yields which came from proper liming. Fertilizer and manure treatment of crops shown in Table 1 was as follows: 150 pounds 0-14-7 on corn, 300 pounds 0-14-7 on small grain, 4 tons of manure on corn, 4 tons as top-dressing on small grain. All crop yields were highest when the soil was limed to neu-trality. Muck and Peat Soils-Liming is not recommended for vegetable crops on muck and peat soils unless the pH is below 5.0. Liming Acid Soils Increases the Yields of All Crops-We often say we lime the land so we can grow better clover and alfalfa. Many farmers have seen the difference in the stands of clover on limed and nearby unlimed areas of meadows in acid soil areas. A good indica-tion of a poor liming program is the failure to get good stands of alfalfa or clover regularly. Some-times failures or partial failures may be caused by something other than soil acidity. Except for potatoes, all field, vegetable, and canning crops, and the common fruit crops benefit by the liming applications necessary to prepare the soil for alfalfa .. Some, however, may not be as sensitive to soil acidity as are alfalfa and sweet clover. Potatoes grow all right on soils naturally neutral or slightly acid. Scab is not a problem on many such soils, and scab is usually not serious on acid soils. But, it becomes a prob-lem when such soils are limed to a pH of 5.3 or above. Soils with a pH below 5.0 which are to be used exclusively for pota-toes need applications of 1000 io 2000 pounds per acre of agricul-tural ground limestone or equiva-lent every 4 or 5 years. Alfalfa and sweet clover are so sensitive to strong soil acidity that they will not yield well until th~ acidity is largely corrected .. Until this is done, meadow mixtures should be made up largely of clov-ers-red and alsike--and grasses. Strong acidity is necessary for the satisfactory growth of a lim-ited number of fruit crops and :flowers-blueberry, cranberry, rho-dodendron, azalea, mountain laurel, and other members of the Heather family. Table 2. Comparative Yields of Field Crops on Unlimed and Adequately Limed Land. (See Table 1 for ferti-lizer treatments, etc.) Data taken from same experiment as that in Table 1. Crop I Adequately Limed Land• Percent ..... I 100 Alfalfa and sweetclover Red, alsike and mammoth clover . Barley .......... . Timothy ......... . Corn ............ . Soybeans ........ . Wheat ........... . Oats ............ . *pH 7.0 t pH 5.0 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Unlimed Landt Percent 5 to 10 20 to 30 23 40 73 75 75 90 Crops on limed land benefitted by residues of the preceding good hay crops. This gave them an ad-vantage over the crops on the un-limed land. Amount to Use Varies Lime Needs Depend on Soil Type - Application of liming material needed to produce a definite change in the reaction of the soil varies with soil type. Reaction of sandy soils can be changed with the smallest applica-Over JO Mesh } ~"'M:.·):i_:'...;.:.b,1.. ;... ~~..-.,J " >OJ' tion of liming materials. The same change in silt loam soils requires heavier applications and silty clay loams and clays need even more lime. Soils with a high content of organic matter as acid peats and mucks require much more. In general, the lime requirement of a soil is dependent on the orig-inal pH or acidity, the clay content, the type of clay, and the organic matter content of the soil. Approximate Tons of Agricultural Ground Limestone Needed to Change Reaction of Soils of Different Type Silty Sandy Silt Clay pH Loam Loam Loam 5.0 to 5.5 0.5 T. 0.9 T. 1.0 T. 5.0 to 6.0 1.0 T. 1.5 T. 2.0T. 5.0 to 6.5 1.5 T. 2.3 T. 3.5 T. 5.0 to 7.0 2.5 T. 3.8 T. 6.2 T. Comparative Values of Different Liming Materials-Soil acidity is corrected only when the liming ma-terial applied comes in close con-tact with the soil particles. The finer the liming material, the more contacts it will make with soil par-ticles and the more rapidly it will correct soil acidity. Heavier appli-cations of coarser materials are therefore required, as compared with finer materials. Price per ton of any liming material is determined by its fineness. The finer the material, the more it is worth. Shown above are limestone separates. Always note the amount of each present in the liming material you buy. Table 3. Availability of Limestone Particles of Different Sizes Percent Available in 1 to 3 years Passing through No. 60 and No. 100 screens ........... 100% Passing No. 40 but not No. 60 screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4% Passing No. 20 but not No. 40 screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54% Passing No. 8 but not No. 20 screen............. 18% Held on No. 8 screen............ 7% Maintenance Applications-Fields growing alfalfa mixtures or other desired crops satisfactorily need 1 ton per acre of agricultural ground limestone or its equivalent every 4 or 5 years. Good bluegrass pastures need 1 ton every 6 to 8 years. Over-liming does not pay because there is no profit from liming that is not needed. Under some condi-tions (especially in the case of sandy, muck and peat soils) minor element deficiencies may develop on over-limed land. Acidity Corrected in Layers An application of liming mate-rials first corrects the acidity of the soil layer with which it comes in contact. There is no lateral move-ment of lime, and hence movement is limited to that caused by leach-ing which is a slow process. Cultivation causes some move-ment of lime, but the acidity is cor-rected in layers. Two or more ap-plications are necessary to correct the acidity of the entire plow layer unless one application is thorough-ly mixed mechanically with the plow layer. How to Apply lime When unlimed acid soils are limed on the sod before plowing for corn and the liming material is plowed under, apply a second appli-cation so there will be some lime in the surf ace soil where the clover and alfalfa start to grow. Half of the lime needed could well be applied in this way. If this cannot be done, apply at least 500 to 1000 pounds per acre of fine, dry liming material so it will be in the surface soil where the clover and alfalfa seed start to grow. The second application is not nec-essary if the field is plowed before seeding clover or alfalfa. Plowing brings some of the lime back to the surface. When a field grows good alfalfa or sweet clover, liming ma-terials necessary to maintain this condition can be applied satisfac-torily on meadows before plowing or at any other time in the rotation. Table 4. Equivalent Applications of Different Liming Materials (Assume same Total Neutralizing Power unless otherwise noted.) Material Coarse agricultural meal .......•................... 1 Fine agricultural meal. ............................ 1 Agricultural ground ............................... i Agricultural pulverized ............................ · Agricultural superfine ............................ . Hydrated lime (TNP* = 135) ...................... . Hydrated lime (TNP* = 165) ...................... . Granulated slag (screenings grade) ................ . Limestone and slag (air cooled) screenings .......... 1 * Total neutralizing power. The TNP of limestone is about 100. Percent of Material Passing Thru No.100 Sieve 20-29 30-39 49-59 60-79 80-100 100 100 less than 20 less than 20 Pounds of Material Equal to 1 Ton of Agr'I Ground. Limestone 3200 2600 2000 I 1700 I 1600 1333 ! 1000 2000 4000 to 6000 It is difficult to get satisfactory soil samples from fields which have been limed once and then plowed because of the foregoing situation. Acidity has been corrected in lay-ers and these layers scattered ir-regularly through the furrow slice. Subsoil in samples from limed fields makes tests inaccurate. Watch Your Driver Careful Driving Necessary-In much of Ohio, limestone is spread from the truck that brought it to the farm. Many of these trucks have a spinner spreader which throws the material in a semi-circle at the rear. Ground limestone can-not be spread uniformly when it is thrown since the larger particles go further than the finer ones. A new type truck spreader drops the liming material from a hori-zontal pipe 11/2 feet above the soil at the rear. This spreads the liming material more uniformly and there is less blowing. The spreader was developed for fine kiln dried mate-rials, but spreaders of this type, which will spread either coarse or damp material, are now on the market. Careful driving and lapping is essential to satisfactory spreading with all types of spreaders. Streaks of good and poor stands in mead-ows often indicate careless driving. All Year Liming-When the use of liming materials started in east-ern Ohio, materials were spread with horse-drawn lime sowers. Most farmers applied lime just be-fore seeding wheat. Demand for liming materials has Results of uneven spreading, shown here after spreading, can be spotted easily when crops are growing. increased greatly in recent years. In order to supply demand, it has been necessary to spread the use and deliveries throughout the spring, summer, and fall. Work at the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station has indicated this could be done satisfactorily. Spreading lime during the summer and fall after hay harvest on meadow to be plowed the next spring is recom-mended. Trucks can get over sod fields more easily than they can over other fields. In 1945 and 1950, long-continued rainy weather in late summer and fall noticeably reduced lime usage as compared with the same period previously. It is best not to delay to a later period unless necessary, since rains may interfere with de-liveries and spreading. Liming materials can also be ap-plied: 1. After plowing for corn or other cultivated crops. 2. After planting corn. 3. On corn stubble before plow-ing or disking for oats or wheat. 4. On oats stubble before plow-ing or disking for wheat. 5. After plowing or disking for wheat or oats. 6. After planting wheat or oats seeded to a meadow mixture (Not good on acid soils). 7. On meadows in the spring when the hay crop will not be damaged. 8. Bluegrass pastures can be limed in the spring and early summer when rotated fields cannot be limed. This is one method of spreading limestone. Stockpiling-Lime comes direct-ly by truck from stockpiles near the quarry to the farm in those parts of Ohio located near quarries. Where shipments are made by rail, local dealers often build a stockpile near the tracks so that there will be liming materials to supply the demand in late summer and fall. Unloading and loading equipment is necessary for economical opera-tion. Bulk liming materials can be stored in tall piles since rains do not penetrate such piles to a great depth. · Local Dealers and Truckers -Key men in increasing and main-taining the use of liming materials are the truck drivers who deliver and spread direct from the quarry and the local dealers who collect orders for shipments to the rail-road station and offer a delivery and spreading service. Canvassing farmers for orders is an essential part of their business. Loading a truck spreader from stockpile at a railroad station. What You, The Farmer, Can Do 1. Order liming materials for the season before May 1. 2. Accept deliveries early. ll/51-25M THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATING AGRICULTURAL ExTENSION SERVICE, C. M. FERGUSON, Director, Columbus, Ohio Printed and distributed in furtherance of Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914 

Liming Ohio's Acid soils

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Liming Ohio's Acid soils

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