Make Your Soil Pay You
An article discussing the need for calcium (Ca) in soil appeared on www.ocj.com on October 3, 2024. This article from "Ohio's Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net Agronomy Notebook" stated several scientific principles which relate to soil nutrient utilization. The article title was "In Tough Times, Make Your Soil Pay You."
1. "Contrary to what may appear to be the case in agronomic textbooks, soil fertility is more complex than a mathematical equation. The state of soil nutrients, available vs. unavailable or "tied up" is continually evolving."
2. "One of the primary mechanisms for maximizing nutrient availability is maintaining soil test calcium (Ca) levels. Years ago, simply maintaining soil pH often meant Ca levels were sufficient. However, as the clean air act has reduced sulfur (S) deposition (less acid rain), soil pH is not declining as rapidly. In turn, the need to apply lime or Ca to maintain pH has also diminished. In the 1980s, our rainwater had a pH of 4.4-4.5, but it is much higher today.
"High calcium lime is an ideal source of Ca. However, as soils require less frequent lime applications to elevate pH, what are soil test Ca levels doing? We can no longer rely on maintaining soil pH to also provide sufficient Ca to maximize soil functionality. Think of it this way: the higher the base saturation cA level, the higher the soil oxygen (O) content."
3. "The bottom line is, as our weather has evolved, soil oxygen has inherently become the most yield-limiting element year in, year out. Maximizing soil functionality and reducing dependency on applied fertilizer primarily comes down to increasing soil oxygen."
This article included a flow chart credited to the University of Illinois from 2021.
↑ Ca = ↑ soil oxygen = ↑soil Microbial activity → converting organic phosphorus (P) to plant available P
↑ Ca = ↑soil microbial activity → Improved aggregate stability/soil structure → increased water infiltration
↑ water infiltration → reduced soil crusting
↑ water infiltration through the soil profile = | seedling disease
↑0 = ↑ biological activity = nutrient release = dependency on applied nutrients"
This article is a very nice summary of what Growers Mineral, Corp. introduced in 1955. The terms 4R Nutrient Stewardship, 45Z, and ROI make the Growers Program approach even more important in today's agriculture.
This is an excerpt from the Late Fall Growers Solution (2025) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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